Quarterly NABE Survey

The National Association for Business Economics is out with its quarterly macroeconomics forecast survey. NABE President Jack Kleinhenz tells what economists expect for the year ahead. “We will get off to a slow start in the first quarter of approximately 1.9% annual growth but we are expected to see a pick up in the economy by the year end of 3%.” There is good news for the job market, adds Kleinhenz.  “Our employment forecast suggests that we should be seeing approximately 188,000 new payrolls every month going forward through 2014.” Kleinhenz says that economists expect the economy to continue to grow this year, but warns there are threats to that growth. “Righting interest rates are probably the biggest threat to our economic growth over the next couple of years.  Also, other panelists noted, but certainly a smaller percentage, federal fiscal gridlock and regulatory environment.” The underlining fundamentals for the forecast include increased spending by households and businesses, the continuation of the housing recovery and expected benefit from expanded trade.