CURRENCIES THE LEDGER The recovery is on its way More and more vaccines are entering the arms of Americans, and daily life and the economy are on the upswing. According to the Congressional Budget Office's projections, 2021's rapid recovery is paving the way for certain parts of the economy to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022. Projected real GDP growth -2.5 -2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 2021 3.7% 2022 2.4% 2020 -2.5% Unemployment is dropping 10 2 4 6 8 2020 8.1% 2021 5.7 % 2022 5.0% 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 Inflation is projected to remain steady 2020 1.2% 2021 1.7% 2022 1.9% That includes 3.5% more consumer spending in 2021 over 20201 That's down from 2020's high point of 14.7% in April2 12 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q August 2021 Typically, annual inflation ranges from 1.5% to 2%1 Source: 1) Congressional Budget Office's Budget and Economic Outlook: 2021 to 2031 2) CNBC