WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced a revision of its economic forecast for the United States, revealing a more optimistic outlook for this year while reducing growth expectations for Europe and China. The organization maintained its global growth prediction at a modest 3.2% for 2024.

The IMF anticipates that the U.S. economy, the largest globally, will grow by 2.8% in 2024, down slightly from 2.9% in 2023, yet showing an improvement from the earlier July forecast of 2.6%. The U.S. economic expansion has been largely driven by robust consumer spending, supported by significant increases in inflation-adjusted income.

Looking ahead to next year, however, the IMF projects a slowdown in U.S. growth to 2.2%. With a new presidential administration and Congress in the mix, it foresees a potential weakening of the job market in 2025 as policymakers might attempt to tackle substantial budget deficits through reduced spending, increased taxes, or a combination of both measures.

As a multi-nation lending entity representing 190 member nations, the IMF aims to foster economic growth, ensure financial stability, and alleviate global poverty. In its latest assessment, it downgraded China’s economic growth forecasts to 4.8% for this year, down from 5.2% in the previous year, and further to 4.5% in 2025. The second-largest economy faces challenges due to a significant downturn in its housing sector and diminished consumer confidence, with some support coming from strong export performance.

Meanwhile, the 20 Eurozone countries are projected to achieve a modest growth rate of 0.8% this year, which is double the 0.4% growth rate recorded in 2023, but a slight reduction from the 0.9% originally predicted three months ago for 2024. Germany, in particular, is facing economic difficulties, struggling with declines in both manufacturing and real estate, leading to expectations of zero growth this year.