Reply #40: 5 challenges for '05 (Look what made #1 on the list)

[54anickel]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20050102-9999-lz1b2hurdles.html

As New Year's revelers bade farewell to 2004 Friday night, they rang out a year that ended much better than it began.

After three years of recession and anemic growth, the U.S. economy picked up steam last year – creating more than 2 million jobs, boosting the gross domestic product by an estimated 4.4 percent and driving the stock market to some of the highest levels it has seen since the collapse of the dot-com bubble.

But as the economy lurches into the new year, it faces some strong head winds that could threaten its expansion. Many economists predict that GDP growth will fall this year by more than a full percentage point – with predictions averaging about 3.3 percent – and possibly more if oil prices spike or the dollar declines too sharply.

Among the troubling signs on the horizon: a weakening dollar, sluggish job growth, high oil prices, high housing prices, and burgeoning U.S. budget and trade deficits. Those five areas are likely to be among the top economic challenges of 2005.

1. The weak dollar

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