---
title: "The \"illusion\" of a strong U.S. economy at the end of the year"
type: "News"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/222893162.md"
description: "The U.S. economy performed strongly at the end of the year, with data showing that the Federal Reserve holds an optimistic outlook for the future economy, raising inflation expectations, lowering unemployment rates, and increasing economic growth forecasts. The annualized GDP growth rate for the third quarter was 3.1%, exceeding expectations. Dollar assets generally strengthened, the dollar index reached a new high for the year, the U.S. Treasury yield curve steepened, and U.S. stocks hit new highs in December. Nevertheless, there are still questions in the market about the true state of the economy"
datetime: "2024-12-20T07:16:06.000Z"
locales:
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/222893162.md)
  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/222893162.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/222893162.md)
---

> Supported Languages: [简体中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/222893162.md) | [繁體中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/222893162.md)


# The "illusion" of a strong U.S. economy at the end of the year

As the year draws to a close, the U.S. economy is finishing strong, with robust data reflected in asset and policy expectations.

Federal Reserve: In the recent Federal Reserve meeting, the Fed released optimistic signals about the economy, raising inflation expectations, lowering unemployment forecasts, and enhancing economic growth expectations.

The final seasonally adjusted annualized GDP growth rate for the U.S. in the third quarter was 3.1%, exceeding economists' expectations. This data supports Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's earlier view of strong overall economic performance in the U.S.

In terms of assets, U.S. dollar assets generally strengthened, with the dollar, U.S. Treasuries, and U.S. stocks all validating the marginal strengthening of economic expectations.

Dollar: The U.S. dollar index reached a new high for the year, surpassing the 108 mark.

U.S. Treasuries: Long-term U.S. Treasury rates continue to rise and show a steepening trend, with the yield curve reaching its steepest level in about 30 months. The 2-year Treasury yield fell by 6 basis points to 4.295%, while the 10-year yield rose by 4 basis points to 4.56%, hovering around its highest level since the end of May.

U.S. Stocks: U.S. stocks hit new highs in December, although the Dow Jones faced special circumstances and the Fed's "hawkish rate cut" led to a recent market correction. Overall, however, U.S. stocks performed quite strongly.

But is this really the case?

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