U.S. unemployment will fall to about 6.5 percent by the end of 2015, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast’s first quarterly report of 2013. The economy gained an average of 181,000 jobs a month in 2012.  An equivalent gain is expected in 2013 with acceleration to 200,000 jobs a month in 2014 and 220,000 in 2015.

The outlook predicts U.S. gross domestic product will reach 3 percent by 2014, surpassing the 2 percent annual growth rate of the past four years, according to the report. The housing and automobile sectors are the biggest contributors, together with renewed growth in business construction and exports.