The U.S. and global economies are set to slow in 2023 as central banks ramp up their fights against inflation, but the forecast is “less gloomy” than it was just several months ago, the International Monetary Fund said Monday.
The IMF said the world economy has been more resilient than expected. Steady consumer spending, strong labor markets, the end of lockdowns in China tied to the pandemic and an easing energy crisis in Europe were among the factors cited. High inflation also began to recede around the world, the IMF noted, in part because bottlenecks in global supply chains began to unwind. Those disruptions played a big role in the surge in inflation in 2021 and 2022. In the U.S., economic growth is forecast to slow to 1.4% in 2023 from an estimated 2% in 2022, the latest IMF quarterly forecast shows. Previously the IMF predicted the U.S. would expand just 1% this year. Notably, the IMF is not predicting a U.S. or global recession. The agency’s outlook for the U.S. is also more optimistic compared to forecasts by U.S. economists. Read: A ‘zero’ economy? No growth and rising unemployment forecast for 2023 Also: A recession is coming, economists say. Some even think it’s already here The United Kingdom is the most likely of the major economies to suffer a downturn in 20 …