Omicron Fears Lower Winter 2022 Economic Growth Forecasts as Variant Spreads

Traders wearing face masks work on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread in Manhattan, New York City, on Dec. 20, 2021. Andrew Kelly/Reuters

Economists are downgrading their global economic growth forecasts for Q1 2022, due to diminished economic returns in December, as businesses and customers struggle with the sudden spread of the Omicron variant.

Analysts had anticipated that a winter wave of COVID would lead to a downturn in Q1 2022, but many were caught off guard by the severity of variant’s effects on the markets.