Next Year Already Is Here: Local Growth Prospects Still Uncertain
Wait til next year, forecasters said in effect as the recovery puttered along throughout much of 1993.</br></br>Well, it's almost next year and some of the same forecasters, like coaches whose team had a lousy season, will only say they're cautiously optimistic about a long-awaited expansion in the Washington economy.</br></br>Notwithstanding substantial improvement in several economic indicators at the end of the year, that's probably as unequivocal as anyone is likely to be.</br></br>Forecasting improvement in the economy in 1994 may, in fact, be one of the safer predictions of the year, though it's probably a good idea to include a caveat forecasting only modest improvement. That could change, of course. But no matter what, the local economy will continue to be an important story in 1994.</br></br>The Greater Washington Research Center may have provided a preview in mid-December when it suggested that the "long-awaited" expansion phase of the recovery will begin next spring as the negative forces that acted as a drag on the recovery lose their grip.