White House Lowers Economic Growth, Citing Weak Housing Market
| The U.S. government cut its economic growth forecasts through 2008 on Tuesday, citing the weakness of America’s housing market. In an updated economic forecast, the administration said it expects inflation-adjusted GDP to increase 3.1% this year, down from its June forecast of 3.6%. GDP growth is firther expected to slow to 2.9% in 2007, down from its previous estimate of 3.3% (WSJ). In 2008, the government sees growth of 3.1%, slightly lower than its prior estimate of 3.2% | Economy 2006 GDP : 3.6% Inflation: 2.3% Unemployment: 4.6% |
Te White House lowered its 2006 estimate for inflation, and expects consumer-price-index growth of 2.3% vs. its June forecast of 3%. In 2007 and 2008, however, the administration upped its inflation estimates to 2.6%, compared with its prior forecast of 2.4%.
The White House expects the economy to add about 129,000 jobs a month going forward. The unemployment rate in 2006 is estimated to an average 4.6%, down from the previous 4.7%. The unemployment will remain at 4.6% in 2007 and rise to 4.8% in 2008.
In another data release, The Labor Department reported that in the week ending Nov. 18, initial jobless claims increased 12,000 to 321,000. The 4-week moving average was 317,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average of 314,000
