For the most part, economists paint a rosy outlook for theU.S. in the second half. First quarter GDP delivered an impressive 3.8-percent reading, while estimates for the second quarter are a bit lower in the 3.2-percent region.

However, looking to the second half, Jonathan Basile, economist at Credit Suisse First Boston, expects growth to rise to around 3.7 percent.

“We are looking for a bounce-back in economic activity from a slower quarter of growth in the second quarter,” Basile says.

He pointed to a mainly auto-related inventory adjustment in the U.S. as a factor weighing on growth in the second quarter. But, overall, Basile forecast a healthy and sustainable rate of spending and growth from both businesses and consumers.

“In recent weeks, everybody is more optimistic about the second half in the U.S.,” Glassman says. “People thought the economy was slowing down, but now they are seeing that it had more momentum than [they] originally thought.”

Inflation doesn’t appear to be a problem, despite the higher crude oil prices, economists say. Basile forecasts core inflation finishing out the year at around a 2.25-percent annual rate.

Job growth has been steady in the U.S., with non-farm payrolls averaging around an 180,000 gain for the last six months. In June, non-farm payrolls grew 146,000, while the overall unemployment rate fell 0.1 percent to 5.0 percent, the lowest level since August of 2001.

“It would take a slowing in business investment to take some of the wind out of the labor market, and I don’t expect that to happen,” Basile says.

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