The recession that wasn’t

It’s a new year and the economic forecast for 2024 is looking strong – but that doesn’t quite align with how many Americans feel. What does that mean for the president heading into an election year?

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After years of historic inflation, price hikes are finally getting back under control and wages are catching up. Unemployment is low. The looming recession that was threatened hasn’t materialized, and the Fed has signaled it’s done raising interest rates — and it might even lower them.

But for many Americans, things still don’t feel great. Rent, groceries, and other basic necessities still haven’t fallen back to pre-pandemic prices, and consumer confidence doesn’t match the sunny economic outlook for 2024. Washington Post economics reporter Rachel Siegel breaks down how we got to this place of mismatched feelings and indicators, and what it could mean in this election year.

Today’s show was produced by Ariel Plotnick with help from Emma Talkoff. It was mixed by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Maggie Penman.

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