Economists Are Uncertain About U.S. Growth This Year

It’s no surprise that May’s weak jobs report fell short of expectations—the payroll came in at 38,000 new jobs instead of the anticipated 160,000 gain. May’s report also lowered March and April job numbers by a combined 59,000, resulting in the weakest month of job creation in five years.

On the heels of that report, the National Association for Businesses Economics released a survey of economists. The results, which were analyzed by Reuters and featured in a Fox Business article, show that economists are increasingly uncertain about U.S. growth throughout the rest of 2016 because of the current economic climate.

The median estimate from economists surveyed says that gross domestic product growth will only be 1.8 percent, which is down from March’s prediction of 2.2 percent. They survey also shows the forecast for growth in corporate profits falling from a two percent gain in March to negative two percent in June.

But it isn’t just the state of the economy that’s playing a role in the pessimism surrounding potential growth—America’s current political climate is also being taken into consideration. Of all the economists surveyed, 57 percent said they lowered their expectations because of uncertainty over the 2016 presidential election.