Georgia State University held the Economic Forecasting Conference in the Speaker’s Auditorium in the University Center on Feb. 26.
Speakers at the Economic Forecasting Conference included Director Rajeev Dhawan, Chief Economist Kenneth D. Simonson, Founder and Managing Partner Joshua Goldfarb and Senior Analyst John Hunt.
Rajeev Dhawan released his Forecast of the Nation that said the anemic capital expenditures of 2013 will make 2014 less likely to be an economic breakout year for the nation.
Dhawan mentioned other concerns in the report as well such as the quality of job growth, corporations hesitating to invest, financial constraints on small businesses and stocks not starting out well at the beginning of the year.
He also said that capital investment grew 2.6 percent last year.
“The easiest path to job growth would be another superior performance from the stock market this year. But can the market deliver?” Dhawan said.
Due to continuing investment weakening, stock market variations and global uneasiness, Dhawan expects the monthly job creation rate for 2014 to average to 147,000.
“In 2013 the economy created jobs at 194,000 monthly pace. On paper, this performance seems great. However, one-third of jobs created were in retail trade and hospitality, sectors that consist mostly of low-paying jobs. Which is not the sort of job growth that will produce income growth,” Dhawan said.
The Economic Forecasting Center report states that employment grew by 89,200 jobs in 2013 but will slow in 2014 with only 85,100 new jobs.
In 2014 Atlanta will add 57,500 new jobs, 64,000 jobs in 2015 and 69,800 jobs in 2016.
The next Economic Forecasting conference at Georgia State will be held on May 29, 2014.
