The US Federal Reserve (Fed) has projected a worse than expected downturn for the flailing US economy and downgraded its unemployment projections.
According to the latest forecasts released yesterday in conjunction with the Fed’s April monetary policy meeting minutes, economic growth will contract by between 1.3 and 2.0 per cent this year compared to a milder forecast in January of between 0.5 and 1.3 per cent.
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Unemployment, the Fed said, will rise to between 9.2 and 9.6 per cent compared to earlier projections of 8.5 to 8.8 per cent.
The Fed’s expectations are in contrast with The Wall Street Journal economist survey last week, which forecast an end to the US recession as soon as August.