"87% of US Economists Cite COVID-19 Resurgence as Downside Risk for This Year"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] As the economic impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is expected to severely shake the US economy, 87% of American economists identified the resurgence of COVID-19 as the biggest downside risk factor this year.

On the 8th (local time), the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) announced that this was the result of a June Business Economics Outlook Survey conducted among 48 economic experts. Although lockdown measures due to COVID-19 have been gradually lifted and economic activities resumed, it is difficult for the economy to recover immediately.

Among the experts who participated in the survey, 8 out of 10 responded that there are downside risks, showing a pessimistic outlook for the future US economy. They predicted that the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will contract by 5.6% this year. This is expected to be the largest decline since the GDP growth rate of -11.6% in 1946, right after World War II.

In a survey of economic experts conducted last December, the US economy was expected to grow by 1.8% this year, but the growth forecast sharply dropped due to the impact of COVID-19. Especially considering that lockdown measures were implemented in the second quarter, it was expected to hit the bottom.

The US economy is expected to grow by 3.6% next year. However, it was added that if a second wave of COVID-19 occurs, the economic recovery could be further delayed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.