Economists boosted their forecasts for U.S. fourth quarter growth Wednesday, after a surprise narrowing of the trade gap in November due to a drop in imports.
Several economists said the decline was likely a direct result of the trade war with China, and nudges U.S. growth higher, at least temporarily, while China is slowing.
Economists participating in the CNBC/Moody’s Analytics Rapid Update raised growth forecasts by 0.2 percentage points to a median 2.7 percent, on a tracking basis. Some economists expect growth to be affected even more and edged their forecasts up closer to 3 percent, though there are still some outstanding economic releases not yet available after the government shutdown.
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