U.S. economic growth is expected to accelerate in the final quarter of 2021, driven by consumer spending and business investment, before disruptions from the Omicron coronavirus variant become widespread.

Economists forecast U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at an annualized rate of 5.5 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 2.3 percent in the third quarter, Reuters reported.

Compared with the previous quarter, GDP is expected to grow by 1.3%, according to a measure used by other major economies. The Commerce Department is scheduled to release the report at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday.

Despite disappointing December retail sales, consumer spending is expected to be a major contributor to economic growth, as Americans do early holiday shopping Fears that supply chain disruption could lead to empty store shelves.

“A lot of this has to do with the environment we saw late last year, with household balance sheets generally in good shape, rising wages and employment growth,” said Oren Kratchkin, chief economist at Oxford Economics.

Business investment and inventories were also expected to support growth late last year as companies replenished inventories, although supply chain disruptions and rampant inflation have been obstacles to recovery.

Economists have warned that a wave of Covid-19 infections triggered by Omicron will deal a sharp but short-lived hit to economic activity in early 2022. Americans have cut back on dining out and air travel, while plans for workers to return to the office are delayed, hurting spending in the business sector.

The International Monetary Fund warned this week that the global economic recovery from the pandemic will face multiple hurdles.it reduce Its forecast for U.S. economic growth this year was cut to 4 percent from 5.2 percent in October.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell said on Wednesday he expected the wave of Omicron that began spreading in the U.S. in late December to cause some economic weakness, but the impact would be temporary.

Fed has ignored Omicron’s concerns, expressed interest March rate hike As it pushes ahead with plans to tighten monetary policy and tame stubbornly high inflation.

With markets expecting four rate hikes and a shrinking balance sheet this year, there is growing concern that aggressive tightening could sap some of the economy’s momentum. But James Knightley, ING’s chief international economist, said “it could actually boost confidence that they’re in control because inflation is a real concern for households and businesses”.