Things are looking up for the U.S. and global economies. Japan returned to growth in the second quarter, and it appears likely that the U.S. will post positive growth for the current quarter. It is harder to find evidence of a turnaround in the Hawai’i economy, although we expect recovery to begin by early next year. A technical recovery will not mean a rapid return to economic health. Because of anticipated weak U.S. and Japanese consumer spending and the drag from continuing State fiscal problems, the local economy will take a number of years to fully recover.
