The Federal Reserve’s forecast, which anticipates economic growth of 5.9% for this year, would be the highest since 1984.
However, although the economic take-off is advancing, the way is not clear.
Inflation has reached its highest point in 13 years, there are shortages of some products due to problems in global supply chains, and fewer people are willing to enter the workforce.
The first great economic challenge is the control of the pandemic, which has caused more than 700,000 deaths in the United States. And for that, we have to get as many people as possible vaccinated, “says David Wilcox, a researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) think tank in Washington DC.
“If we leave behind the fears caused by the virus, many of the other economic problems will be solved,” he argues in dialogue with BBC Mundo.
These are some of the biggest challenges facing the US economy right now in fueling the recovery.
1. Inflation
One of the great economic debates that exists these days in the United States is that of inflation.
The latest data available indicates that in September prices climbed at an annual rate of 5.4%, the highest in more than a decade. The Federal Reserve (Fed) has insisted that the high level of inflation is a transitory phenomenon, but other economists believe that it could be a long-term problem.
The Fed has indicated that it could begin to decrease its monetary stimulus towards the end of this year, probably by slowing down bond purchases first and later by raising interest rates, which are currently practically at zero.
2. Product shortage
So complicated are the problems in product supply chains globally, that a few days ago President Biden announced that the Port of Los Angeles will begin to “operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week” as a way to facilitate the flow of goods.
The consensus among experts in the area is that the so-called “container crisis” will not be fully resolved until sometime next year. The most pessimistic believe that it could extend even until the beginning of 2023.
3. Working market
The labor market is another challenge facing the economy. Americans are quitting their jobs at a record rate that reached 4.3 million people in August, nearly 3% of the workforce.
It is a phenomenon known as “the great resignation”, another of the economic consequences left by the pandemic.
And although the abandonment of jobs is occurring at different levels, where it has become more evident is in those jobs with the lowest salaries and in which people are more exposed to being infected.