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Abstract
Economists generally agree that business activity and the country’s gross domestic product will continue to increase at least through next summer, when the economic expansion would become the longest in U.S. history. Low unemployment is beginning to push up wages and encourage more Americans to re-enter the job market, and consumer confidence and spending remain strong. The biggest threats to the robust economy, financial experts say, are trade tensions between the United States and other large economies, notably China’s, and the possibility that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates too quickly as inflation inches up. In the long term, the federal deficit is expected to balloon as a result of congressional actions to increase government spending and cut taxes.
