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NC State Economist

NC State Economist: 2023 Economic Outlook: Soft or Hard Landing?

NC State belltower
Belltower on a sunny Spring day. PHOTO BY ROGER WINSTEAD

By M. L. Walden, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, NC State University

2022 was the year that U.S. economic policymakers shifted their focus from fighting the pandemic and its short-term negative impacts on jobs, wages, and firms’ financial health to addressing one of the longer-term consequences of the pandemic – inflation. This reorientation will impact both the nation and North Carolina. It will make 2023 a year of economic challenge, but also an opportunity for policy success.

In this issue of the NC State Economist, Mike Walden analyzes the economic trends from 2022 and provides his forecast for 2023.