Growth to Strengthen as Jobs Lift Consumers

[NJMaverick]

Quote:The world’s largest economy will strengthen through 2012 as employment gains give Americans the means to withstand rising fuel costs, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Gross domestic product will climb at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the final three months of the year, up from 2 percent this quarter, according to the median forecast of 71 economists surveyed from March 9 to March 13. For all of 2012, the U.S. may expand 2.2 percent, accelerating from 1.7 percent last year.
More jobs, increasing share prices, improving confidence and stability in housing will bolster the expansion. At the same time, unemployment will be slow to retreat, averaging 7.3 percent in 2014, showing why Federal Reserve policy makers yesterday said interest rates will remain low for at least the next two years.
“Some of the conditions for faster growth are falling into place,” said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. By the end of the year, “we’ll still be a long way from what would make the Fed more comfortable. They will still be missing their full employment objective.” IHS Global Insight was the second most-accurate forecaster of consumer spending over the two years through February, according to Bloomberg calculations.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-14...onomy.html

[jaxx]

I wish the unemployment would drop faster. If the nuts would have passed the bill...the one the President gave them way back when....we'd have infrastructure jobs going on now.

[janedrake]

I noticed today on Bloomberg that the U.S. unemployment rate (8.3%) is now lower than the U.K. unemployment rate (8.4%). How about that!

[Peacetrain]

The only large economy that investors are willing to sink money into is the American economy..that says a lot there