Conditions on both a national and local scale
The Economic Club of Memphis and the Memphis Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis hosted its 2015 Regional Economic Briefing Thursday morning at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn.
Martha Perine Beard, regional executive of the Memphis Branch of the St. Louis Fed, introduced the two speakers, Kevin Kliesen and Charles Gascon who talked about economic conditions on both a national and local scale.
Kliesen, a business economist and research officer for the St. Louis Fed, said strong job gains, falling unemployment rates and lower oil prices are a few of the things creating "guarded optimism" for the 2015 national economy.
"U.S. economy seems to be developing a lot of forward momentum," he said.
He also emphasized if recent trends persist, the unemployment rate could drop below 5 percent by the end of the year and said inflation will likely remain at 2 percent or lower in 2015. Any risks to the outlook are mainly dependent on foreign developments, Kliesen said.
Gascon, a regional economist for the St. Louis Fed, provided an overview for the Memphis area and said the U.S. economy is expanding, but Memphis remains in recovery.
"The Memphis economy is really sensitive to national fluctuations," he said.