Improved growth expected to follow sluggish economy

As large changes are in the works regarding the federal fiscal policy, uncertainty is expected to continue, causing a temporary drop in economic growth during the first half of 2013, but a stronger private sector is projected to expand the economy during the second half of the year, according to Bloomberg BNA’s annual Economic Outlook.

Specifically, the study finds that the unemployment rate is believed to fall from the four-year low of 7.8 percent to an average of 7.5 percent in the second half of 2013. In the second six months of 2013, an addition of 176,000 new jobs per month is estimated. Besides job creation, business investments, a recovering housing industry and greater consumer spending can help spur the economy. Among private-sector workers, total hourly compensation is anticipated to increase 2.6 percent, up from 2 percent in the third quarter of 2012.