Economist: Maryland poised to grow in 2015

Economic growth is expected to accelerate this year in Maryland and across the United States, according to Mark Zandi, Chief Economist for Moody’s Analytics. Zandi addressed the State’s Senate Budget and Tax Committee in Annapolis this week.

Zandi offered an overall optimistic view of the economy, both at the national and state levels. He agreed with the notion that the national economy finally picked up pace in 2014, with accelerating and consistent growth and rapid employment expansion not seen since the late 1990s. He remarked that this growth is expected to continue and even increase to about 3.5 percent annually during 2015. According to him, this sustaining economic expansion should return the nation back to full employment by 2016.

With respect to Maryland’s economy, Zandi remarked that unlike the relatively slow growth of last year, affected by fading federal stimulus dollars, the State’s economy is also expected to grow in 2015 and beyond. He mentioned several key reasons for optimism. First, consumers were already seeing some positive changes in their income, as reflected in the State’s total personal income, which grew from 1 percent in 2013 to 3 percent in 2014. He reiterated that this income growth translates into more consumer spending, which in turn stimulates more demand for services and goods. In addition, plummeting gas prices have played an important role for consumers in the second part of the year. He estimates that, on average, a Maryland household will save about $1,800 per year at the current price levels they pay at the pump. Furthermore, as labor markets improve, wage growth is also expected to pick up.

More