WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund slightly raised its forecast for 2023 US economic growth Friday while noting that a slowing economy will likely lead to a small increase in unemployment in 2024.

“The US economy has proven resilient,” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said in a press conference, shortly after the updated figures were released. Real GDP growth in the United States is expected to rise by 1.7 per cent this year, up from 1.6pc forecast earlier this year, before slowing to 1.0 per cent in 2024, the IMF said in a statement.

The US unemployment rate, which is currently at near-record lows, is expected to tick up slightly, with “slowing, but still-solid, growth” pushing it to increase to 4.4pc by the end of next year.

Addressing inflation, Georgieva said resilient demand and a strong labour market had been “something of a double-edged sword” for the US economy.

Published in Dawn, May 27TH, 2023