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                Forecasters Dial Back US Growth Outlook for 2016

   by VOA News

   Forecasters say the U.S. economy will grow a bit more slowly than first
   thought next year, but they also say the outlook for jobs and the
   housing market is good.

   Members of the National Association for Business Economics predicted
   this week that U.S. economic growth would be a modest 2.2 percent for
   2015 and speed up a little next year. NABE economists help run all
   kinds of companies across the United States.

   NABE member Ken Simonson said the growth figures were a "modest"
   decrease from earlier predictions. But he said "nevertheless it is
   growth, it is going to stay positive for every quarter through the end
   of 2016, and jobs are going to keep being added every quarter."

   NABE forecast that the world's largest economy would continue growing
   at an annual pace of between 2 and 2.5 percent over the next five
   years. The prediction of "lackluster" growth was based on what the
   economists saw as "tepid" business investment, along with a lot of
   regulatory and other constraints.

   Nearly all of these economists said they expected the U.S. central bank
   to begin raising the key interest rate next week, and that it would
   rise gradually to a still-low rate of just over 1.1 percent by the end
   of next year.

   Next year, they also said they expected a slight increase in
   homebuilding and an uptick in the number of jobs created each month.

   A separate study by the Manpower employment services company questioned
   11,000 employers across the United States and found one in five planned
   to hire people next year, while just over one in 20 planned to cut
   jobs. The authors were optimistic about employment growth next year,
   despite problems in the energy sector and manufacturing and weakening
   exports due to the strong dollar and weak growth in overseas economies.

   A company that tracks the housing market said interest rates would rise
   gradually in 2016, but not enough to keep home sales and prices from
   also rising. CoreLogic said an improving job market would make it
   possible for more people to set up households and start families,
   boosting demand for homes.

   The researchers also reported a sharp drop in the number of
   foreclosures over the past year, a sign that more of the damage from
   the financial crisis is healing.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/forecasters-dial-back-united-states-g
   rowth-outlook/3094008.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/forecasters-dial-back-united-states-growth-outlook/3094008.html