Consumer price inflation will register its largest annual increase since 2011 in the U.S., according to the January issue of Wolters Kluwer’s Blue Chip Economic Indicators, a monthly newsletter published by Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

According to Wolters Kluwer’s Blue Chip Economic Indicators panel of 53 economists, further tightening of labor market conditions and higher overall inflation will prompt the U.S. Federal Reserve to continue hiking interest rates.

“The consensus still predicts U.S. real GDP will grow 2.3 percent in 2017 on a fourth quarter-over-fourth quarter basis,” said Randell E. Moore, executive editor of Wolters Kluwer’s Blue Chip Economic Indicators. “This is 0.3 percent more than the presumed increase in 2016.”

Other consensus findings from this issue of Wolters Kluwer’s Blue Chip Economic Indicators exclusive survey include:

  • Almost 56 percent of the panelists predict two 25-basis-point rate hikes from the Fed this year and close to 29 percent foresee three 25-basis-point rate hikes during the year.
  • Minimal change since December’s survey in the consensus outlook for the U.S. economy’s performance in 2017;
  • Increased protectionism and potential for a trade war is the biggest threat to improved U.S. economic growth in 2017, and the second highest-ranked threat is an additional increase in the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar;

About Wolters Kluwer’s Blue Chip Economic Indicators

Established in 1976, Wolters Kluwer’s Blue Chip Economic Indicators has become synonymous with the latest in expert opinion on the future performance of the U.S. economy by presenting the forecasts of 50 economists from the nation’s largest and most respected manufacturers, banks, insurance companies, and brokerage firms. The newsletter compiles the experts’ individual and combined forecasts for the current and following year for variables including, but not limited to, real GDP, consumer price index, industrial production, real disposable personal income, pre-tax corporate profits, unemployment rates and real net exports.

For more information on Wolters Kluwer’s Blue Chip Economic Indicators please visit, https://wolterskluwerlr.com/bluechip.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. is a part of Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL) a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2015 annual revenues of €4.2 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide.

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