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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (33905)	7/6/2004 9:17:35 PM
From: lorne	Respond to of 81568

as. Ya better hope there is not to much good news like this. :-) U.S. economy prediction: Best growth in 2 decades Last time nation in such good shape was when Reagan in White House Posted: July 6, 2004 Despite pain at the gasoline pump and a recent hike in interest rates, the U.S. economy is roaring forward, with analysts predicting the fastest growth of the gross domestic product in two decades – not seen since Ronald Reagan was president. According to the Associated Press, many experts are projecting an expansion rate of at least 4.6 percent, the best since the 7.2 rate in 1984 when Reagan was seeking his second term. "We are moving into a sweet spot for the economy with interest rates not too high, jobs coming back and business investment providing strength," Diane Swonk, chief economist at Bank One in Chicago, told AP. Swonk is predicting GDP growth of 4.8 per cent this year. Her sentiments were echoed by David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York, who told the wire service, "We are looking for a darn good year despite the fact that we had a big jump in oil prices and interest rates are going up faster than people thought would occur." The economy also saw strong growth periods in 1997 and 1999, when Bill Clinton was in the White House. It's not just the GDP showing positive signs. The London Times reports that Wall Street analysts forecast American blue-chip companies will collect a "fourth successive quarter of bumper profits growth of 20 percent or more, a feat not matched since the third quarter of 1995." David Rosenberg, chief economist at Merrill Lynch, believes the top companies could possibly outdo previous bullish predictions. "If history is any guide, we may well see (year-on-year) earnings growth come in north of 25 percent," Rosenberg told the Times. "Earnings have surpassed expectations by more than 5 percent in each of the last five quarters." He is cautious, though, about corporate earnings running out of steam in the remainder of the year. "If companies continue to have difficulty passing on higher costs, we would expect the profit outlook to unravel faster than is currently expected," he told the London paper. "Looking forward, one thing seems clear – earnings growth is set to decelerate." The U.S. job outlook is also on the upswing, with the economy creating 1.5 million new positions since August. That good news comes on the heels of 2.7 million jobs lost in the previous 29 months, prompted by a recession and the terrorist attacks of 2001. President Bush still faces a 1.2 million jobs deficit since taking office. But according to AP, "Many analysts anticipate the economy will generate around 200,000 jobs per month over the next six months, a pace that would be enough to erase Bush's deficit figure by the end of the year."