U.S. equipment and software growth upgraded in Q2 forecast update.

The second quarter update of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Association’s (ELFA) 2024 Equipment Leasing & Finance U.S. Economic Outlook report envisions accelerating growth for the leasing and finance industry. That’s based on forecast growth of 2.2 percent in equipment and software (E&S) investment and a 2.3 percent growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

A recent article in Pro Contractor Rentals noted that the ELFA report anticipates a “soft landing” for the U.S. economy and accelerating growth as the year progresses despite negative E&S investment in the last two quarters. An analysis of 12 major E&S vertical markets forecast that over the next two quarters five will be expanding, three will be weakening, two are recovering and two are expected to remain the same.

The 2.3 percent GDP growth in the second quarter update is an improvement over the 1.7 percent growth projected in the Outlook published in December 2023.