ATLANTA — As the U.S. economy continues to fight back against pandemic disruptions and officials work to reign in persistent high inflation rates, some experts say there are signs that the country could already be in a recession.
The Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank's GDPNow tracker, which is considered the Bank's primary tool for measuring economic data in real-time, shows that continued low consumer spending combined with rising prices has produced numbers that fall under the official definition of a recession.
"Typically, after you have expansion and growth like we've had, there comes a recession," explains financial expert, Ted Jenkin.
Jenkin says that we have been seeing signs of a recession for weeks now in Georgia.
“Where we're really seeing it is, Atlantans are just spending less," Jenkin said. "And when people start to save a little bit more and they spend a little bit less, that's where you see part of the front ends of recession."
According to the most recent data from the Georgia Department of Labor, they have received around 5,500 unemployment claims for layoffs over the last two weeks.
While unemployment records have been at historic lows since the beginning of this year, Jenkin says he expects that rate to climb significantly. He predicts that those who might be first affected are those who likely might have just changed jobs or are in lower-paying ones.
"The people that should be concerned the most are people that are newer to their jobs, like you recently got hired or people that are in those hourly wage-type jobs."
The National Bureau of Economic Research is the only group who can officially determine if we're truly in a recession, and they have not done so, yet. Historically, it usually declares it once we are well into a slump or even after one.