US biz economists notch up 2010 growth outlook

WASHINGTON: A group of US business economists boosted their forecast for economic growth over the next year, but said the jobless rate will remain stubbornly high, a survey released yesterday showed.

The National Association for Business Economists (NABE) predicted real growth in gross domestic product for 2010 would be 2.9 percent, up from its October forecast for 2.6 percent growth.

"Real GDP growth should also be enough to recover losses from the recession and return output to an all-time high by the end of 2010," the business group said in a statement.