IMF raises its U.S. economic forecast to 2.6 percent

The International Monetary Fund has raised its forecast for the U.S. economic growth for this year by 0.3 percentage point to 2.6 percent. There were mounting concerns that the U.S. economic growth may be slowing amid an intensifying trade war between the U.S. and China, but the IMF has judged that the country’s economic growth is solid.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on the fund’s website Thursday that the fund has raised its U.S. forecast from 2.3 percent to 2.6 percent for this year. The IMF adjusted upward its U.S. economic outlook in two months but has kept intact next year’s forecast at 1.9 percent.

“Unemployment is at levels not seen since the late 1960s and wages and household incomes are rising. This is happening at a time when inflationary pressures in the U.S. remain very subdued,” the IMF chief said. “This is an important achievement, driven by robust private sector demand and by policy choices that have helped spur growth and job creation.”

The country’s economic expansion has been continuing for 10 consecutive years through this month. Next month will mark the longest economic expansion in U.S. history since World War II.

However, Lagarde said that contrary to the expansion of the economy’s size, social problems have intensified. “Average life expectancy has trended downward in recent years, income and wealth polarization have increased, social mobility has steadily eroded,” she said. “While the poverty rate is falling, it remains higher than in other advanced economies.”


oldsport@donga.com