In a statement, the IMF said that the US economy has shown its resilience in the face of monetary and fiscal tightening, but this means that inflation has been more persistent than expected.
The agency slightly raised the forecast for US GDP growth for this year and warned that the economic slowdown will increase unemployment a little in 2024.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States will grow 1.7% this year, against 1.6% previously estimated, and next year it will increase 1%, the IMF said in a statement.
“The US economy was resilient despite the significant tightening of its monetary and budgetary policies in 2022,” says the statement, which, however, states that “inflation remains a persistent problem.”
The unemployment rate, currently at near record lows, will rise slightly, with “slowed growth” taking it to 4.4% by the end of 2024.
On inflation, IMF director Kristalina Georgieva said the resilience of demand and the strength of the labor market were “sort of a double-edged sword” for the US economy.
“They certainly were a stimulus to American families, but they also contributed to more persistent inflation than had been anticipated,” he told a news conference after releasing the data.
With information from AFP and Reuters
