Economists down on GDP, upbeat on hiring

Economists who work for major corporations are pessimistic about the health of the U.S. economy, but many are optimistic about their own company's prospects, according to a quarterly survey released today. The National Association for Business Economists surveyed 98 economists. Sixty-six percent of those surveyed by the Washington-based group forecast growth between zero and 2% during the first six months of the year. The GDP for the third quarter of 2007 was 4.9% Twenty-four percent said that they expect GDP to grow at an annualized rate above 2%. The remaining 10% of the panelists said they expect the GDP to slip in the first six months of the year. However, despite a slowdown in the housing markets and tight credit markets that are leading analysts to warn of a recession, the survey found that 42% of the economists say that their firms plan to create jobs in the first half of 2008, while only 17% plan to cut jobs.