Panelists report economic uncertainty at the annual Business Outlook event at Ivy Tech on Thursday, Nov. 10.
((WFIU/WTIU file photo))
The annual Indiana University Kelley School of Business outlook is reporting uncertainty in economics throughout the state and country.
The panel of four Thursday included assistant professor of business economics and public policy Andrew Butters, clinical assistant professor of business economics and faculty chair for Evening MBA program Kyle Anderson, governor’s census liaison and CIO of Indiana Business Research Center Carol Rogers, and business development director of the BEDC Clark Greiner.
Butters, who has been on the panel for three years, describes the current condition of the U.S. economy as unprecedented.
“The economic landscape that we’re dealing with right now is quite unprecedented,” he said. “Right now what we’re trying to deal with is determining what’s sustainable for the economy.”
Butters reports that inflation is reaching 7.7%, the highest it has been in 40 years. However, it is a decrease from last month. Nationally, there has been an uneven GDP growth with a high unemployment rate.
“The labor market is incredibly, incredibly tight right now,” he said. “We have a labor force participation rate of 62.2%, and that’s a full percentage point below where we were pre-pandemic.”
The shortage of workers in the labor force has affected Indiana too, said Rogers.
“I would also like to add our slow population growth, we're not replacing ourselves,” she said. “The pandemic didn't help, it accelerated something that was already happening. We're not attracting enough young people to the state of Indiana.”
A recession is still a possibility, and Rogers said if it happened Indiana would be hit first.
Between talk of a recession, inflation and rising interest rates, a squeeze will be put on the output of durable goods manufacturing… which is something Indiana relies on.
“This is a tough situation to monitor with a lack of workers in Indiana’s labor force,” Rogers said.
As a member of the BEDC, Clark Greiner said Monroe County’s economic vitality project focuses on addressing many of these national issues. Including providing affordable housing, increasing workforce growth, providing more employment opportunities, balancing development with world preservation, and improving the quality of life.
“One of the things that we're really trying to do now is take all that data, all that information, and say, how do we really take a look at this from the long-term perspective?”
A detailed report on the outlook for 2023 will be available online in December.
