By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss still sees a potential backward step in the economy overall on the horizon.
"I think it's the beginning of the sinking of that stone, but it's going to take a while," Goss said. "The federal government is running a deficit that could choke a horse. We're talking about, I mean, this is a wartime deficit in a peacetime economy. So what's held up is government, government employment. We're seeing that's where the real growth has been is in government, also leisure and hospitality, which is a good thing. Not saying government's a bad thing, but that's where the government, the federal government, particularly is spending. That's we're seeing more and more growth there, for example, in Kansas, about double the growth in government jobs as opposed to non-government jobs. So it's not what we'd like to see."
Europe's central bank cut interest rates on Thursday, but Goss isn't sure that the U.S. Federal Reserve will follow suit. These comments came before the European announcement.
"If we have a downturn, we will see some rate cuts," Goss said. "But short of that, we're looking at higher rates into 2025."
However, the Fed does meet soon, so they have a chance to make a move, if they want to.
"When the Federal Reserve meets next week, they're going to be, they won't be silent, they'll be talking," Goss said. "It won't be what, what most Americans in Kansas want to hear, they want to see, we're going to see growth. They're going to be talking higher rates and concern about inflation."
Goss does think the economy is too weak to be raising rates, so they'll probably stand pat for now.