JPMorgan research boss says immigration is benefiting the U.S. economy

• The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its U.S. GDP growth projection to 2.1% for 2024, up from 1.4% in its December projections, as the economy continues to display resilience.
• But the labor market has remained relatively hot and January and February inflation prints dampened hopes that price increases were fully under control.
• "I think one thing that was really underestimated in the U.S. was the immigration story," Joyce Chang, chair of global research at JPMorgan, told CNBC on Thursday.

The recent influx of immigration into the U.S. is helping to bolster the economy despite a raft of global challenges, according to Joyce Chang, chair of global research at JPMorgan.

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its U.S. GDP growth projection to 2.1% for 2024, up from 1.4% in its December projections, as the economy continues to display resilience despite high interest rates as the central bank seeks to manage inflation levels.

Meanwhile, the labor market has remained relatively hot despite tighter monetary conditions, with unemployment remaining below 4% in February and the economy adding 275,000 jobs.

The Fed also raised its projections for its preferred measure of inflation: core personal consumption expenditure. It now expects core PCE to come in at 2.6%, up from 2.4%, after January and February inflation prints dampened hopes that price increases were fully under control.

The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.4% in February on the month and was up 3.8% on the year, slightly higher than forecast.

"We are still seeing the phenomena around the globe that services inflation is still well above where it was before the pandemic, so we're looking at 3% for core CPI,