Consumer Spending to Drive Growth for 2016

The economic growth outlook for the second half of the year remains unchanged from the prior forecast at about 2.0 percent, according to Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group’s July 2016 Economic and Housing Outlook. Consumer spending is expected to drive growth for the rest of 2016 as businesses face headwinds from shrinking profits, weak productivity, and rising labor costs in the face of uncertainty stemming from Brexit and the U.S. presidential election. Gove