NABE Revises Economic Forecast Upward; Unemployment Still High
The NABE (National Association for Business Economics) recently revised its forecast for economic growth for 2011 into 2012. The survey of economists forecast that gross domestic product will grow 3.3% in 2011, which is a revision upward from the 2.6% they forecast in November. They predict labor markets to improve throughout the year.
Their forecast for labor markets call for monthly payroll gains for 178,300 also rising throughout the year. The survey predicts the unemployment rate falling to 9.0% by the end of 2011 (that’s right, falling to 9 percent.) In 2012, they predict unemployment to continually, albeit slowly, decline, to 8.2% at the end of next year.
The survey appears to predict a slow recovery of economic growth coupled with tepid employment gains. Recruitment firms should anticipate high general unemployment for years to come however, as even 8% at the end of 2012 is high relative to recent history.