Ida: Economists foresee only modest damage to US economy
Ida, which made landfall Sunday, is tied it for the fifth-strongest hurricane to ever hit the mainland. More than a million customers in
Oil prices weren’t showing a spike in reaction to Ida on Monday even as the storm raged. Prices on the
Analysts at
Zandi said he expects the nation’s gross domestic product — its total output of goods and services — to grow at a 6.5% annual rate in the second half of this year, matching the average growth of the first six months. Still, besides the impact of Ida, Zandi noted that the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus poses risks to the economic outlook, depending on how much it leads Americans to slow their spending on travel, restaurant meals or other forms of spending.
“The key channel for Ida to impact the broader economy is through energy prices,” Zandi said. “We will have to see how much damage occurred to production in the Gulf and how long that production will stay offline.”
A brief spike in gasoline prices could result, Zandi said, because of the production shutdowns.
“The worst-case scenario is Ida might add
Chemicals and plastics companies located in the region also shut down, but analysts at Citi said the US chemical industry can handle summer storms better than winter freezes provided there is no sustained flooding that can damage electrical stations.
“Many plants have been hardened against hurricanes, but disruptions in operations are still very likely due to flooding, power outages and personnel dislocations,” Platts analysts said.
While Ida made landfall on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, with higher wind speeds, Ida is expected to have a less severe financial impact due to a lower storm surge and New Orleans’ improved levee system, which is better able to withstand storm surges. Analysts at
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