WASHINGTON: The US economy is expected to consolidate its recovery this year despite a slowdown in the first quarter, according to a survey published Monday by The Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper said that on average, the 56 economists polled downgraded their estimate of first-quarter growth in gross domestic product to 2.7 percent at a seasonally adjusted annual rate from 3.6 percent forecast two months ago.
The economy grew at a 3.1-percent rate in the fourth quarter.
The respondents cited the still-weak housing market, severe weather, declining confidence and the earthquake in Japan as factors contributing to the pullback, the paper said.
The single biggest factor named by 35 economists was the rising price of oil sparked by Middle East unrest.
"High oil prices usurp confidence and erode spending by consumers still struggling with lost wealth," The Journal quoted Sean Snaith of the University of Central Florida as saying.
But the economists expect the problems in the first quarter to be transitory, the paper said.
They forecast growth to pick up to 3.6 percent by the fourth quarter of the year and predict oil prices will fall back below $100 a barrel by the end of 2011, The Journal noted.
Respondents also forecast the unemployment rate will fall to 8.3 percent by December 2011 from the 8.8 percent rate recorded in March.
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