U.S. Economy Outperforming Expectations with Strong Growth, Falling Inflation, and Rising Optimism

U.S. economy is outpacing forecasts, now expected to grow 2.2% in 2024 vs prior prediction of just 1.3%
Consumer spending has remained strong despite higher interest rates, aided by robust job market
Inflation has also fallen much faster than predicted, slowing to 2.6% by December 2022
Business and consumer optimism at multi-year highs due to earnings, stock market gains, and economic momentum
Fed likely to raise own U.S. GDP growth forecast for 2024 from current 1.4% estimate given latest data