After long struggling to claw its way out of the Great Recession, the world’s biggest economy is on an extended win streak that is edging America closer to full health. But as The Associated Press reports, the new year doesn’t look quite so bright in other major countries.
China is slowing as it transitions from investment to consumption. Japan has slid into a recession. Russia appears headed for one. Europe is barely growing.
But the U.S.? Six years after its financial system nearly sank and nearly that long since the recession ended, the United States is expected to grow in 2015 at its fastest pace in a decade. Its expansion from July through September—a 5% annual rate—was the swiftest for any quarter since 2003.
That pace will likely ease a bit. Still, the economy is expected to expand 3.1% next year, according to a survey by the National Association for Business Economics. It would be the first year of 3% growth since 2005.
The acceleration of U.S. growth is a key reason the global economy is also expected to grow faster, at about 3%, up from 2.5% in 2014, according to economists at JPMorgan Chase and IHS Global Insight.
Plunging oil prices are a big reason for the optimism. Prices have been cut roughly in half since summer. In some areas of the country, gasoline prices have slipped below $2 a gallon. The drop, along with more fuel-efficient cars, will save the average U.S. household $550 on gas next year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That means consumers have more to spend on items like cars, furniture and appliances.
What’s more, Americans’ finances are in firmer shape. Job growth is accelerating. Businesses are investing in buildings and software, and home building is expected to pick up.
Meanwhile, the hot economies of the last decade—the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China collectively known as the “BRICs”—will likely grow in 2015 at their slowest pace in six years, according to Oxford Economics, a forecasting firm. Read the full story.
