The fast-spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19 has started leaving an imprint on slices of the U.S. economy as some events are canceled or postponed, consumers cut back on restaurant dining and understaffed businesses shut down in some of the most-afflicted areas such as New York City.
Nonetheless, Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics, expects the U.S. economy to take a hit in the near term from a surge that could infect more people than earlier waves but end more quickly. He now forecasts the U.S. economy will grow by 2% in the first quarter of 2022, down from 5%.
Consumers are also cutting back on trips to restaurants as the virus spreads. The number of diners seated at U.S. restaurants was down 10% for the week ending Dec. 23 when compared with the same week in 2019, according to the restaurant reservations site OpenTable. That is lower than Nov. 25, when dining activity was on par with 2019 levels.
And Americans by and large seemed more committed to their holiday travel plans. The number of people checked through airport security in the approach to Christmas is roughly double last year's volumes, Transportation Security Administration data showed. Wednesday's total exceeded the comparable 2019 level by about 144,000 passengers, one of only a handful of days so far to top pre-pandemic levels and by the largest margin yet.
Some economists are downgrading their forecasts for how much the U.S. economy and the labor market will grow early next year amid a surge in infections and a decline in fiscal support.
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