Economic Update - July 2022
This economic update focuses on the first half of 2022, which has been challenging for the global economic environment.
The main drivers of these challenges have been inflation and the interest rate increases that have come about in response to inflation.
Therefore, when we look at other elements that we have gone over in previous economic updates, like housing and capital markets, we do so in the context of inflation and interest rates.
As we moved to the outlook for the second half of 2022, we note that there are quite a number of factors that can go either way over the next 6 to 12 months, resulting in a high degree of uncertainty.
However, there are factors, such as low unemployment and high demand for workers, that have historically been resistant to the onset of larger negative economic events.
While we do not ignore the forces that have shaped the economic backdrop so far in 2022, we do believe that the fact that we see positive factors that can potentially hold the line is reasonably optimistic in the face of general consumer sentiment and overall news flow.
