WASHINGTON: The US economy is likely to grow stronger this year, reaching its fastest pace since 2003, according to a survey published in Monday's Wall Street Journal.The poll of 51 economists projected US gross domestic product would be 3.5 percent higher in the fourth quarter of 2011 than a year earlier up from the 3.3-percent increase they projected in last month's survey.
That would be the largest increase since 2003, the paper said.The economists expected Gross Domestic Product to expand at a 3.6 percent annual rate in the current quarter, accelerating from the 3.2 percent rate recorded in the final months of 2010.
In the fourth quarter of 2010, consumer spending on durable goods rose at a 21.6-percent annual rate. It was the biggest gain since the fourth quarter 2001 spending surge that followed the September 11 attacks.
"That's an indicator of a significant release of pent up demand that we think will have staying power into 2011," Chris Varvares, an economist at Macroeconomic Advisers, told The Journal.The economists also expected the unemployment rate to end the year at 8.6 percent -- below January's nine percent, but still high by historical standards, the report said.
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