Consumer spending has kept the U.S. economy resilient in 2023, but Wells Fargo’s annual economic outlook report released this month predicts the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) will “contract modestly” in mid-2024 as inflation continues to slowly fall.
Economists at the fourth largest bank in the U.S., and Des Moines’ second-largest employer, caution in the report, “we believe it would be premature to claim that the economic storm has passed.”
“In our view, the U.S. economic outlook over the next year or so is far from sunny,” the report says. “A full-blown economic storm may not develop, but storm clouds likely will dominate the horizon for the foreseeable future.”
The report, issued Nov. 9, was produced by economist Jay H. Bryson; Nick Bennenbroek; Jackie Benson; and Shannon Seery Grein.
As the economy entered the fourth quarter of 2023,…
