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U.S. Chamber chief economist: Economy ‘doing pretty well’

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By John Lovett | Times Record, Fort Smith, Arkansas
October 13, 2017

The United States is in the midst of the third-longest economic expansion in history and “the economy is doing pretty well,” said the chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

J.D. Foster, senior vice president of the Economic Policy Division and chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told more than 450 members and guests at the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting Thursday that tax reform would also keep the economy from sliding in the second half of 2018.

“Other than housing, the economy is doing pretty well,” Foster said at the Fort Smith Convention Center. “We are finally, finally, nearly at full play.”

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The economist said he expects a tightening of the job market in early-to-middle next year, and to be wary of press reports that interpret lower jobs numbers as a weakening of the economy. Monthly job growth numbers of 90,000 to 100,000 in this stage of the game, he said, will be a “sign of strength.”

“That’s an extremely good sign for the economy, having everybody involved in the economy makes it stronger on a fundamental level,” Foster said.

Along with the tightening of the job market, however, also will come demand for higher pay. A wage rise is coming, Foster added, and there will also be a “rise in business failures” for those who can’t afford it.

“We’ve heard for years that businesses can’t find people they need to hire. We’ve heard the expression ‘jobs without workers and workers without jobs,'” Foster said. “And that was all true, but it’s now changing in character. What we’re seeing is a redefinition of that expression. It’s not just that employers can’t find the workers they need, employers can’t find workers they need at the wages they expected to pay.”

Foster also addressed the need for Congress to institute better policy on maintaining the nation’s infrastructure and the North American Free Trade Agreement, as well as raise the debt ceiling while getting control of the national debt.

Picking the right person for the next chairman of the Federal Reserve was crucial to the economy to avoid damages the economy. Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen’s term expires in February. President Trump is expected to announce his choice for the next Fed leader in the coming weeks.

Rodney Shepard, president of Arvest Bank’s Fort Smith market and board chairman of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, announced at the start of the meeting Thursday that Trent Goins, president and CEO of OK Foods, will become the next chamber board chairman in 2018.

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