Experts weigh in: U.S. economic outlook for 2022
With heightened concerns due to the recent spike in Covid cases, 21 News spoke with economists to get their take.

From supply chain disruptions, to pain at the pump and grudging trips to the grocery store, 2021 has been by no means a buyer's paradise.
After the U.S. saw a 29-year high inflation rate of 6.8%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2022 looks to bring buyers some relief, fortunately.
Though, economists say people should be cautiously optimistic as well as patient.
"It's just going to take time," Brian Laraway, a partner at Bury Financial, said. "When you, really, shutdown the economy for an extended period of time, it takes a while."
Experts agree inflation should hit its peak in February 2022. The Federal Reserve estimates just a 2.6% increase in the inflation rate next year. It comes as the Central Bank also confirmed multiple interest rate hikes are likely ahead in 2022.
Tod Porter, the former economics chair of Youngstown State University and current professor emeritus, says increasing interest rates will in turn push down inflation, cheapening costs for consumers.
"[It's] done in the hopes that we cold have, what's sometimes referred to as a soft landing," Porter said.
By soft landing, he is referring to pushing up the interest rates in several, small increments over a longer period of time.
Laraway says the possibility of heightened interest rates will eventually impact the housing market.
"That doesn't mean it immediately goes to the housing market," he said. "But it certainly does get into there, it trickles in."
In 2021, extremely low interest rates pushed up demand for housing which in turn pushed up the price of existing homes 14%.
According to data from the National Association of Realtors, the median price for an existing home rose to just under $354,000 as of November (the most recent month for which data are available).
Economists predict another push upward in house prices in 2022 but only by about 3% as some buyers are likely to opt out of home-buying after high interests rates price them out of the market.
From the housing market, to the job market, Laraway says 2021 has brought some good to workers in the form of increased wages.
"Those don't really go back down," he said.
Unemployment also looks good heading into the new year. Experts predict the numbers will sit at around a 3.5% unemployment rate in 2022, back own to pre-pandemic levels.
Though, the same can't be said for workforce participation. Economists predict that many industries and businesses will still struggle to find workers in next year, even if the rate of workforce participation continues to recover.