It’s 2019 and the robots haven’t taken over...yet. Despite wild internet theories and predictions that robotics and automation would take jobs away from Americans, especially in the labor and trades, the United States is actually looking at a large skills gap in the trades and an even larger number of unfilled jobs.

For the 1st time since the middle of 2014, the U.S. economy has sustained 3% growth for two consecutive quarters, providing strong momentum into next year. The current Conference Board forecast calls for 2.8 percent growth during the final quarter of 2017 and 2.5% growth in 2018.

The economy rolled on in the third quarter of 2017, growing by 3%, despite the hurricanes that battered the United States during the quarter.

Very few would characterize 2017 as a “normal” year so far. Whether it was overseas elections, the timing of domestic policy initiatives, devastating hurricanes, or the scope of central bank actions, in a social media context, much of the discussion could have been tagged “#uncertainty.”