The US economy is definitely struggling, currently. The economic recovery plan was brought to a halt late 2012 by the federal government when cuts in military spending and other factors overwhelmed the Federal Reserve's expanded campaign to stimulate growth (Appelbaum and Schwartz, 2013).
Beginning March 1, 2013, significant federal spending cuts were put in place, increasing the amount of payroll taxes paid by most Americans, with the expiration of a temporary cut in early January 2013 (Appelbaum and Schwartz, 2013). .
In the last three months of 2012, the economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.1 percent. This was the worst quarter since the economy crawled out of the last recession, hampered by the lower military spending, fewer exports and smaller business stockpiles (Appelbaum and Schwartz, 2013). .
Research by economist's shows that there is not another recession looming in the near future of the US economy. Data provided showed relatively strong spending by consumers and businesses, even though military spending posted its sharpest quarterly drop in 40 years. It is expected that growth in 2013 will rebound to a still-anemic 1.5 percent. This predicted percent is placed a little lower than it has managed over the last three years (Appelbaum and Schwartz, 2013).
The fiscal cliff fight of 2012-2013 has finally come to an end. This means that there will be some changes in the US economic outlook for American families. Looking o the bright side, American families have been able to enjoy more than three years of uninterrupted economic growth and falling unemployment since the recession ended. The downside is that economic growth has averaged less than 2.25% since the recovery began and is estimated to have slowed to less than 1% in the most recent quarter. Yet, unemployment is still way above where it should be at this point (Sivy, 2013).
The largest factors impacting faster growth in the US economy are budget problems.