As Americans enter the holiday season, some are stressing to make ends meet with recent inflation and economic struggles. Gas prices reached levels not seen in decades, thanksgiving costs increased by an estimated 20% from 2021, and 30% of middle class Americans are now paying roughly $230 more in taxes. Some are left wondering what the economic outlook is for 2023. Are things going to get better?

Well, the answer isn’t simple. For example, IMF forecasts global growth to slow 3.2% from the previous 6.0% by the end of 2022. And by 2023, it’s expected to drop even further to 2.7%. However, according to Axios, the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) expanded at a 2.6 annual rate in the third quarter, proving people’s fears of a recession to be incorrect. A recession happens when there is a decline in economic activity, so for the GDP to be expanding after 2 consecutive contractions proves that we may be heading in the right direction for 2023. Additionally, gas prices are lowering too, with the national average 25% lower than the peak in June of 2022.

There are also some good signs that inflation altogether may come back down. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows that inflation cooled 8.2% in October from the prior month. However, it is still significantly too high for consumers, with core prices still rising by over 3%. The annual inflation rate is at nearly 8%, which is the the lowest since January, after rising 8.2% previously. For comparison, Japans current inflation rate is at 3.8%, China is at 4.8%, South Korea is at 5.6%, Canada is at 6.8%, Mexico and Australia is at 6.9%. Although there seem to be some good signs of it slowing down, Americans still are concerned that it isn’t happening fast enough. During 2020, the height of COVID-19, inflation was at 1.9%, increasing 15.15% since then, which is a 7.31% increase each year. To put it in layman’s terms, if you had five dollars in 2020, and you saved that five dollars until now, that five dollars is not worth as much now as it was back then. You cannot buy as much with five dollars now as you could two years ago. This is due to a variety of things- mainly when our Federal Government prints money. The more money they print, the less each dollar is worth.

The presumed cause for the increase in inflation varies from source to source. The New York Times, CNN, factcheck.org, AP News, and various other sources claim the cause for inflation and high gas prices can be attributed to the ongoing war in Ukraine, whilst sources such as Fox News, Newsmax, CNBC, fee.org, among other attribute it to the Biden Administration. President Joe Biden released an official statement on the Consumer Price Index report for October:

“I will work with anyone – Democrat or Republican – on ideas to provide more breathing room to middle-class and working families. And I will oppose any effort to undo my agenda or to make inflation worse. We are on the right path – we need to keep moving forward to build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out.”

The unemployment rate for October shows the US at 3.7%, compared to 3.5% the month prior, a .2% increase, with over six million unemployed citizens. In the last year, prices have increased 7.7% since October 2021.

People are spending more money on groceries and their paychecks aren’t compensating for it. And on top of that, they aren’t even making their full paycheck because of inflation . For example, according to US Bureau of Labor, cars are 17.66% higher, which is a 3.5 thousand dollar difference. Per year, they experienced an inflation rate of 5.57% per year.

Overall, the outlook for 2023 appears to be relatively the same as 2022. While Americans may see some relief, it is highly unlikely that the economy will revert to its pre-COVID prosperity.