Podcast: Is the Economy in the Midst of a Slowdown?

On the most recent episode of the “Keeping it Real with Dr. Kuehl” economic update podcast for ASA members, ASA Chief Economist Dr. Kuehl focuses on the most recent job numbers and how they may affect interest rates going forward.
 

Dr. Kuehl started off the podcast by telling members about the most recent job numbers that were released and how they may affect interest rates going forward. He says that all last year we kept thinking we would see lots of declines in the economy, but every quarter we grew more than we thought we would. This year, that did not happen. GDP numbers finally dropped.
 

Chris tells members that with this decline, it is affecting job expectations. We saw a big drop in hiring. The reaction to the labor shortage is an ongoing theme, and with this slowdown it is not “unexpected”. But what does this all mean for interest rates? It comes down to the Fed… since there is a reduction in overall economic growth, now might be the right time to cut rates. He says that there are four drivers for the economy, and two out of the four are weakening, but strength still in the other two. We are not in a “free fall”, but it is becoming more fragile.

Dr. Kuehl produces three free economic update podcasts each month for ASA members (on Friday mornings). The podcasts are available in the MyASA portal at www.asa.net/myasa and through all traditional podcast hosting platforms.

Have a question or topic for Chris Kuehl that you would like answered on this podcast? Email it to Bri Baresel at bbaresel@asa.net.
 

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