Tim Rogers, chief economist at Briefing.com, sees a weak first half in the U.S. with gross domestic product (GDP) performance of 2.5 percent or less. However, he forecasts a rebound in the second half, with GDP at 2.5 percent or higher as “housing becomes less of a drag on the economy.”
Economists point to the “recession” in the housing sector as the main factor weighing on U.S. growth prospects. Looking at recent data from the housing sector, February new home sales came in at 848,000, representing a worse-than-expected 3.9 percent decline. Large downward revisions to previous months were also seen in the February report release. Housing starts hit a nine-year low at 1.399 million in January 2007, after hitting a 33 year high a year earlier, according to Briefing.com.
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