Forecast: Worries of possible recession persist

The United States likely won’t see a recession this year, but continued interest hikes could send the economy into a recession in 2023, according to John Connaughton, director of the North Carolina Economic Forecast.

“It depends almost entirely on what the Federal Reserve does in the next three or four months,” he explains.

The Federal Reserve, which meets two more times this year, announced another significant increase in interest rates on Wednesday afternoon. Based on the response to combat inflation in recent months, Connaughton says the economy will continue to shrink if more interest rate increases are implemented.

“There will be a significant impact to the economy in 2023 if we get two 50 basis point increases in November and December.”