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Is the US economy warming up?
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After a long and cold winter, the US economy may finally be warming up. The Federal Reserve is expected to show evidence of an economic rebound with the release of non farm payroll data and GDP figures this week.
Severe weather stunted first quarter growth according to analyst estimates. The majority of forecasts predict that US GDP grew at around 1.2 percent. Nick Beecroft, Chairman of Saxo Capital Markets, however expects “first quarter growth is going to be something anemic like 1 percent.” Either figure reflects a dramatic decrease from fourth quarter growth, which was reported to be 2.6 percent.
The outlook for the US economy looks hopeful through as evidence suggests increased growth once volatile weather conditions lessened. This glimpse of economic strengthening towards the end of the first quarter has Beecroft forecasting second quarter US GDP to come in around 3 percent. Given this positive future, the Fed is expected to continue reducing its monthly bond purchase amount.
Nonfarm payroll data, released on Friday, is estimated to reflect the addition of 215,000 jobs, but again Beecroft thinks this number maybe too optimistic citing predicted growth of 200,000.