What is the growth rate of the economy used for the projections?
The Social Security actuaries use three different sets of assumptions in their projections for the Social Security system–optimistic, intermediate, and pessimistic. These are intended to illustrate Social Security’s financial status under most of the possibilities that might confront the system. Under the intermediate assumptions, the annual growth in real GDP is assumed to average 2.0% over the ten year period of 1998- 2007. After 2007, under all three sets of assumptions, the projections for GDP are assumed to average 2.0% over the ten year period of 1998-2007. After 2007, under all these sets of assumptions, the projections for GDP growth are based on assumed rates of growth in employment, average hours worked, and labor productivity.
