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US – Report: US Economy to Pick Up in Second Half

January 23, 2013

The U.S. economy will slow as this year gets started because of impacts from the payroll tax hike and constraints on federal spending, but growth will improve in the second half of the year as the private sector strengthens, according to the Bloomberg BNA annual economic outlook released today.

Monthly Job growth gains in the U.S. will be modest in the first six months of 2013 but will accelerate to 176,000 jobs per month in the second half of the year, according to the outlook. The unemployment rate will continue on a gradual downward slope from its recent four-year low of 7.8 percent to an average of 7.5 percent in the second half of 2013.

The outlook report is a consensus forecast of economists at 21 financial, consulting and academic organizations across the United States.