Business conditions in the United States are beginning to weaken, according to a new survey of more than four dozen of the country’s leading business economists.
Additionally, just 31% of the respondents reported that their companies’ product or service sales have been rising over the past three months. That is the lowest percentage in at least the last two years. And a quarter of respondents reported falling sales — the highest number since January. Nearly 8 in 10 of the respondents said that there is a less than 50% chance that the economy will enter a recession over the next year. That is a major departure from a few months ago when 58% of participants in the same survey predicted that a recession would hit in the next 12 months.
“You know, what we have looks like a soft landing with very good outcomes for the U.S. economy,” Yellen told Bloomberg.