Economists more optimistic about growth

Leading economists are increasingly, but still cautiously, optimistic about growth in the year ahead, with hiring expected to pick up in coming months. A quarterly survey by the National Association for Business Economists released this morning shows half of the economists polled now expect real gross domestic product—the value of all goods and services produced in the United States—to grow between 2% and 4% in 2013. That’s up from 36% of respondents who felt the same way three months earlier. About half expect sluggish or negative performance, down from 65% in October. The latest survey, conducted between Dec. 20 and Jan. 8, asked 65 economists and others who use economics in the workplace about conditions at their firms or industries. It found that 34% of firms now expect to expand their payrolls in the next six months, the highest percentage since April. Meanwhile, 2% say they expect their companies to cut payrolls through layoffs, while 14% foresee payrolls trimmed through attrition. The Associated Press has more details in the full story here.