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State of the Economy My assessment of the current state of the economy is that the cost of living is hard. Inflation seems to affect the economy, that most of the people, like me, cannot or are having a tough time affording rent, food, or anything and are unable to afford necessities. The annual inflation rate in the US unexpectedly flanked up to 3.2% in February 2024, compared to 3.1% in January and above forecasts of 3. 1% (Trading Economics, 2024). Also, according to the US Bureau of labor statistics, the prices of food increased at 2.6% from 2.2%, shelter at 6% from 5.7%, new vehicles to 0.7% from 0.4% and medical care 2.9% vs 3%. On the other hand, there seemed to be a decrease in gasoline prices which declined from -6.4% to 3.9% (Trading Economics, 2024). In addition, the US gross domestic product or GDP increased 1.9% in 2022 and another 2.5% in 2023 (USA Facts, 2024). At least the unemployment rate seems to be doing well from 2020 and remained low and stable. Some of the economic trends would be the Covid-19 pandemics lingering labor effects, climate changes causing more natural disasters, financial markets controlling oil, gas, and food prices, and retirement became uncertain for many (Amanda, 2022) I think it is safe to say the economic state was better than it was a year ago, but the cost of living is still tough, and the economy is still recovering from the past years. For example, inflation rates had decreased over time from 6.4 on January 2023 to 3.1 on January 2024. Though if we were to compare ten years ago, inflation rate was so low which was at 1.6 back in January of 2014 (Coin News, 2024). I think Fiscal policy can help improve economic growth by boosting demand with higher government spending which can help create jobs and increase productivity. There are many ways the government can help increase employment, for example, governments can loan money to businesses so that they can hire workers, provide tax incentives so that they likely to hire more workers or government can build or fund more schools so students can attend to help increase the skills of the citizens, such that they can qualify for available jobs 2024 current state of the union: US economy. USAFacts. (2024, March 6). https //usafacts.org/state-of-the- union/economy/# ~:text=How%20is%20the%20US%20economy,and%20four%20times%20in%202023. Amadeo, K. (2022a, May 2). 6 trends that affect the U.S. economy. The Balance. https://www.thebalancemoney.com/top-usa- future-economic-trends-3305666 Coin News Media Group Company. (2024, March 12). Current US inflation rates: 2000-2024. US Inflation Calculator | Easily calculate how the buying power of the U.S. dollar has changed from 1913 to 2023. Get inflation rates and U.S. inflation news. https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/
