Is a Recession in Our Future?

By Cass Jacoby. 

Experts offer some peace of mind with their insight into the economy. 

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have probably been hearing scary words like “inflation,” “recession” and “rising interest rates” flying around discussions about the economy. It can be tricky to know whether or not to take these concerns seriously and what they mean for you. Read on to learn more about if we are headed into a recession with this quick overview of economy fundamentals. 

Despite what you may have been hearing, American businesses are still going strong. According to ITR Economics, U.S. domestic corporate cash holdings are still about 50% higher than the pre-pandemic record high and U.S. corporate profits are still elevated from a record high. It does not appear that the Business Confidence Index is signaling a recession. If anything, businesses at current have the means to invest and expand capacity and address the labor shortage. 

Consumers on the other hand, are less fortunate when it comes to the current economy. With inflation hitting consumers hard and the lack of financial boosts, consumers are just not buying like they used to. While this may be a cause of concern to business owners who know that consumers drive around two thirds of the U.S. economy, analysts at ITR Economics expect that pricing pressures will ease in the future, bolstering consumer purchasing power. Plus, it appears that the consumer is not in the financial predicament they were in leading up to the Great Recession.  

While all of this news is reason enough to have peace of mind as you plan for your business, be sure not to grow complacent. It is predicted that the U.S. economy will be relatively stagnant over the coming quarters and that there will not be a continuation of the growth from 2021. Companies should plan for more price-conscious consumers, waning business cycle momentum and higher borrowing costs. However, this means that the upcoming months are a great time to research new products or markets, improve efficiencies or schedule downtimes for capital investment installation or upgrades.  

Learn more about MRCA in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.mrca.org. 

About Cass  

Cass works as a reporter/writer for RoofersCoffeeShop, AskARoofer and MetalCoffeeShop. When she isn’t writing about roofs, she is putting her master degree to work writing about movies and dancing with her plants.