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- The Omicron variant won’t slam the global economy like past waves have, JPMorgan said Thursday.
- The variant’s rapid spread and reduced severity should fuel a faster and less dire wave of infections.
- Omicron is also “unlikely” to disrupt the supply-chain recovery in 2022, the bank’s economists said.
The Omicron variant roiled holiday get-togethers, travel plans, and gift deliveries. But it won’t be enough to derail the world’s economic rebound, JPMorgan economists said Thursday.
The Omicron variant grew from a fledgling story to the world’s predominant health crisis in a matter of weeks, raising new concerns that the pandemic — and its economic fallout — will linger well into the new year. With Americans already lamenting high inflation and supply-chain problems, the variant’s rapid spread placed new pressure on recovery hopes.
That quick transmission might be what makes Omicron less problematic than the last two coronavirus waves, JPMorgan economists led by Bruce Kasman said in a note to clients. The latest surge of infections “is expected to look very different than earlier ones,” mostly because of its contagion and reduced severity. Taken with the strong pace of global recovery, the Omicron wave will form several unique trends in early 2022, the team added.
Here are the three reasons…
