The U.S. outlook for 2020 has been remarkably stable, amid a period of global turmoil with multinational companies constantly being forced to revisit target assumptions and update their strategic plans for the year. U.S. housing starts are now at a record high, the labor market continues to expand, and non-energy industrial production is finally beginning to stabilize after the contraction in Q2 and Q3 of 2019. On the policy side, trade tensions are relieved for now with the conclusion of the “phase one” trade deal and the signature of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA).
However, the economy has evolved in very important and subtle ways, which companies need to understand in order to make sure that they outperform their competition in 2020 and beyond.
Practice Leader for Global Economics, Ryan Connelly, shared our U.S. Outlook for 2020 to help businesses understand what to expect and how to prepare for market shifts. In this video, he covers key themes, such as:
- Rising wages, rising employment, and low inflation has led to a strong consumer demand environment where consumer firms are finding ample opportunities for premiumization strategies. Consumers are willing to pay more, and are willing to trade up to premium products
- U.S. oil production growth has fundamentally disrupted the oil market and has been instrumental in changing the entire pricing dynamics for global oil prices. The global economy consumes around 100 million barrels of oil per day . Weak oil prices, subdued global demand, and reduced tariffs will keep pricing pressures low
- The key risks to the U.S. economic outlook – policy mistakes by the Fed, business uncertainty from trade wars launched by the President, or breakout core inflation – do not appear likely in 2020-2021
In this video, he also outlines several strategic priorities for 2020/2021 to prepare your global teams to manage change, including focusing on increasing top-line performance through price increases and shifts to higher margins products, identifying the right pockets of opportunity across states, countries, and customer segments to pursue premiumization, and more.
For a more in-depth look at what FrontierView’s experts are tracking for 2020, contact us to connect with a team member.