Bob Costello, Chief Economist & Senior Vice President of International Trade Policy & Cross Border Operations for the American Trucking Associations made his annual presentation yesterday on the state of the economy at the 2022 Food Shippers Conference in Orlando.

Costello offered these five educated predictions of what may happen this year in the U.S. economy: 

1. GDP growth slows, but generally remains above average

2. The main drivers of truck freight decelerate or even contract, but remain at high levels

3. Inflation continues to be high, but should decelerate through the year

4. Oil prices remain high as few countries have enough additional production capacity

5. Fed to raise interest rates 4-5 times, .25 percentage points per time.

Although recent inflation readings increases the possibility of a 50-basis points increase in March. Fed’s ability to impact inflation is limited due to the various sources of higher prices.

Like this kind of content? Subscribe to our "Food For Thought" eNewsletter!

Now more than ever, professionals consume info on the go. Distributed twice monthly, our "Food For Thought" e-newsletter allows readers to stay informed about timely and relevant industry topics and FSA news whether they're in the office or on the road. Topics range from capacity, rates and supply chain disruption to multimodal transportation strategy, leveraging technology, and talent management and retention. Learn More