A survey by The Wall Street Journal showed increasing optimism among economists about economic growth for this year.6
Among the survey’s findings, economists, on average, now expect the economy to expand by 4.9%, an increase from their average estimate of 4.3% last month. They are, however, somewhat less sanguine about employment as
they now expect 4.8 million jobs to be added this year, versus an earlier expectation of 5.0 million.6
Economists are forecasting accelerating inflation as a consequence of economic growth and fiscal stimulus, but believe that there is only a 17.5% probability of an economic downturn in the next 12 months, an improvement
from its 21.2% risk estimate in January.6