ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Scott Wallace, Ph.D. Director and Editor, CBEI; Professor of Economics School of Business and Economics
The steep plunge in real GDP in the second quarter of 2020 and the V-shaped recovery since was the result of the COVID-19 shock. As Kevin Bahr has described in his report, both the rapidity and the scale of these changes were unprecedented. Some economists have described the impact of the pandemic on the economy as being similar to that of a “natural disaster” on a geographic area. The latest economic indicators provided here characterize an economy that, with the aid of historic levels of fiscal stimulus, has quickly rebounded from the COVID-19 disaster but now faces serious supply side constraints resulting in higher price levels and worker shortages.
National Economic Statistics Table 1 Key Economic Indicators 2022 First Quarter
% ∆ Yr. Ago +10.6
Nominal Gross Domestic Product (in Billions) Real Gross Domestic Product (in Billions) Industrial Production (2017 = 100) Consumer Price Index (1982 - 84 = 100)
$24,382.00 $19,735.90
+3.6 +5.5 +8.5
104.6
287.504
Description: • Nominal Gross Domestic Product (in Billions): The dollar value of all final goods and services produced in a year, using current prices. • Real Gross Domestic Product (in Billions): The dollar value of all final goods and services produced in a year, using prices from a base year (2017) to adjust for inflation. • Industrial Production Index: Measures real output (as a percentage of actual output in 2017) produced in the United States in manufacturing, mining, and electric and gas utilities. • Consumer Price Index: Measures the average monthly change in the price of a representative basket of goods and services bought by consumers. Analysis: • The first quarter increase of Real GDP of 3.57% from 2021 Q1 reveals persistent growth as the economy continues to rebound from the pandemic disaster. The decline in the number and severity of COVID-19 cases with the omicron variant certainly will help the economy to move forward. • Industrial Production is an excellent indicator of changes in output in the manufacturing sector. Industrial production has increased by 5.5% over the last year showing that manufacturing activity is expanding at a robust pace despite major supply chain challenges. • Inflation certainly has accelerated with the CPI showing the overall price level increasing by 8.50% over the last year, the highest rate in over 40 years. As Kevin Bahr describes in his report, increases in demand from federal stimulus programs, reductions in supply from supply chain issues, and higher energy prices have contributed to the rise in the inflation rate.
Central Wisconsin Report - Spring 2022
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