During the recent Economic Outlook 2018 Forecast event held in Phoenix, economic experts predicted good news for Arizona’s economy, saying state’s economic growth will continue and announcing an expected drop in the state’s unemployment rate.

During the event, several experts presented their assessment and predictions for the state, local and international economies. Presenters included Elliott Pollack, CEO of Elliott D. Pollack & Co.; BOK Financial Executive Vice President and Chief Investment officer Jim Huntzinger; and NPR Planet Money reporter Stacey Vanek Smith.

“The Arizona economy should be more of the same,” Pollack said during his presentation, according to a press release. “We could get a little increase in growth depending on the extent of the tax cuts and the extent of the infrastructure spending Trump has been promising. Assuming we get a corporate tax cut, some tax reform and some infrastructure spending, there’s reason to believe the economy will continue to grow, perhaps a little more rapidly next year."

Huntzinger discussed the national economy during his presentation.

“Looking forward, we would expect things to slow down a bit,” Huntzinger said. “One thing that could help that is the tax plan that’s currently being discussed in Washington.”

Smith presented her forecast for the global economy.

“In 2018 it does look like we are poised for more growth, it looks like trade is expanding and industries are starting to grow again,” Smith said. “That said, there’s also a lot changing geopolitically, and I think that could definitely affect how different countries’ economies grow.”