California: An economic micro-climate +Predict Little Economic Growth In U.S For First Half Of 2008

We've been hearing a lot about a possible recession, but a new report from UCLA says we can still avoid a recession, even though housing, jobs, and consumer spending are all off.

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A panel of economists predicted Monday that there will be little U.S. economic growth in the first half of 2008. However, a pick up in growth was predicted for the second half of the year.

National Association for Business Economics also provided its first prediction for 2009. The organization projected that GDP will grow 2.9% over the course of the year.

For 2008, however, growth was predicted to be extremely slow, though a recession will likely be averted.

“U.S. economic growth is expected to slow to a crawl in the first half of 2008," said Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, NABE president and chief economist at Ford Motor Company.

She went on to say, "while a slight majority of our panel of forecasters expects the economy to avoid a recession in 2008, growth is expected to average just ¾% before accelerating in the second half in response to fiscal and monetary stimulus.”