Gross domestic product will expand 1.5% in 2016, according to the May 2016 issue of “The Forecast of the Nation,” released today by the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business. It will then expand to 2.5% in 2017 and 2.4% in 2018, according to the forecast.

The report also expects weaker job growth in 2016 than last year. Jobs will grow by a monthly rate of 180,000 in 2016, 193,000 in 2017, and soften to 169,000 in 2018.

“Presidential election rhetoric creates uncertainty that holds back investors, plus the damage from last year’s falling oil prices on equipment investment is showing up in growth,” said Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Economic Forecasting Center.

And despite last week’s media reports hinting at a June rate hike after the Federal Reserve’s May meeting, the forecast expects Janet Yellen and company to wait until March 2017 for an interest rate increase.

“The Federal Open Market Committee dot charts are of interest to the press for their noise potential,” Dhawan wrote in the report. “These are submitted weeks in advance of the meeting and as such are purely opinions and not policy projections, resulting in confusion.”