Omicron is impacting US economic activity, but it will not derail it.

The Conference Board forecasts that the US economy will grow by 6.0 percent (annual rate) in Q4 2021, but slow to 2.2 percent in Q1 2022. A new wave of COVID-19 (and a new variant) is disrupting economic activity but will not derail growth. High inflation is enduring and will not disappear in 2022. Consumer’s income and spending will be impacted. The Federal Reserve has become more hawkish. Accelerated tapering followed by three rate hikes is expected in 2022.