Why this Economic Cycle Presents Unprecedented Challenges

The current economic cycle is proving to be particularly challenging to categorise, with unique circumstances creating a two-speed economy. Depending on which economic indicators are examined, the US economy could be categorised as being in any one of the business cycle’s four phases. The unemployment rate is at a multi-decade low, suggesting an economy in its expansion phase, but other indicators such as business surveys and the rate of change in inflation suggest an economy already experiencing stagflation.