Strategy in TECH...
The U.S. economy showed great positive momentum in 2021 with the gross domestic product (GDP) growing at a record pace, recouping much of the drop in GDP in 2020. In fact, a new report from Axios shows that the current GDP growth trend is now within just 1% of the pre-pandemic trend.
Economic KABOOM? While tech has been largely immune to it, many industry segments have been struggling to get through the current recession (think transportation and hospitality) that enveloped the country when the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the U.S. early last year. Literally, for a period of weeks or even months, all businesses that were not considered essential services were shut down, bringing economic activity to a standstill. Now, like many folks, you may be expecting to see economic growth return as the country begins to climb out of the epidemic-ravaged economy. Perhaps you’re even expecting an economic boom.
But a growing number of experts say you are wrong – we won’t just have moderate economic growth coming out of this latest recession. We won’t even have an economic boom. Rather, they say we are headed towards an economic KABOOM.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce released their latest report on residential construction for the month of September 2020. Like last month, the results on housing starts were mixed, with both good news for custom integrators and bad news for the overall industry – suggesting again that housing growth, while robust, is beginning to moderate.
In a new report by the U.S. Commerce Department released Wednesday, U.S. retail sales in September have broadly dropped for the first time in seven months. The report is seen by many economists as another significant sign of a cooling economy.
Although the US is in the midst of a record period of economic expansion, more and more troubling signs have appeared over the last few months in the form of negative economic data points to suggest that a turn in the economy may be coming. This week, a trio of new reports – consumer confidence, sales of newly constructed homes, and corporate earnings revisions – suggest that economic growth is stalling and that “turn” may be here.
