Page 8 - April 2023

THE ECONOMY AT A GLANCE
HOUSTON

By Greater Houston Partnership in Texas NNN Leases

SUBTLE SHIFT
There’s been a subtle shift in the narrative on the U.S. economy in recent weeks. In February,
The Wall Street Journal ran a front-page article under the headline “Hard or Soft Landing?
Some Economists See Neither if Growth Accelerates.” The article noted:
Surprising strength in hiring and consumer spending along with signs that demand for
autos and housing are stabilizing have some economists pointing to a third scenario that
seemed improbable at the start of the year—an economic growth upturn.

The New York Times published a similar story under the headline “What Recession? Some
Economists See Chance of a Growth Rebound.” Per the Times article:
After months of asking whether the Fed could pull off a soft landing in which the economy
slows but does not plummet into a bruising recession, analysts are raising the possibility
that it will not land at all — that growth will simply hold up.

And under the headline “Forget Hard or Soft Landing: Meet the Rolling Recession,”
Bloomberg took a different slant:
. . .one industry suffers a contraction, then another, but the economy as a whole never
swoons, and the job market largely holds up.

8 NBIZ ■ April 2023