The October 2021 Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Survey

The October 2021 Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Survey was published on October 17, 2021. The headline is “Supply-Chain Bottlenecks, Elevated Inflation to Last Well Into Next Year, Survey Finds.”

I found numerous items to be notable – although I don’t necessarily agree with them – both within the article and in the forecasts section.

An excerpt:

Uncomfortably high inflation will grip the U.S. economy well into 2022, as constrained supply chains keep upward pressure on prices and, increasingly, curb output, according to economists surveyed this month by The Wall Street Journal.

The economists’ inflation projections are up dramatically from July, while short-term growth outlooks are lower.

As seen in the “Recession Probability” section, the average response as to whether the economy will be in a recession within the next 12 months was 15.94%. The individual estimates, of those who responded, ranged from 0% to 75%.  For reference, the average response in July’s survey [the last survey published] was 11.56%.

As stated in the article, the survey’s 67 respondents were academic, financial and business economists.  The survey was conducted October 8 – October 12. Not every economist answered every question.

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Economic Forecasts

The current average forecasts among economists polled include the following:

GDP:

full-year 2021:  5.22%

full-year 2022:  3.59%

full-year 2023:  2.53%

full-year 2024:  2.23%

Unemployment Rate:

December 2021: 4.63%

December 2022: 3.91%

December 2023: 3.64%

December 2024: 3.66%

10-Year Treasury Yield:

December 2021: 1.69%

December 2022: 2.15%

December 2023: 2.45%

December 2024: 2.66%

CPI:

December 2021:  5.25%

December 2022:  2.64%

December 2023:  2.46%

December 2024:  2.33%

Core PCE:

full-year 2021:  3.86%

full-year 2022:  2.52%

full-year 2023:  2.30%

full-year 2024:  2.20%

(note: I have highlighted this WSJ Economic Forecast survey each time it is published; it was published monthly until April 2021, after which the survey is conducted every three months; commentary on past surveys can be found under the “Economic Forecasts” label)

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I post various economic forecasts because I believe they should be carefully monitored.  However, as those familiar with this site are aware, I do not necessarily agree with many of the consensus estimates and much of the commentary in these forecast surveys.

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The Special Note summarizes my overall thoughts about our economic situation

SPX at 4513.50 as this post is written