U.S. raises economic growth outlook

The White House predicted on Thursday that the U.S. economy will increase at a faster pace than expected before and jobless rate will continue to decline this year.

In the latest economic forecast, The Bush administration forecast that the gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 3.6 percent, as measured from the fourth quarter of last year to the fourth quarter of this year. That is better than a 3.4 percent growth rate forecast early this year.

The White House continues to project good economic growth in 2007 and 2008, at 3.3 percent of 3.2 percent respectively, unchanged from previous estimates.

The U.S. economy expanded at a 3.5 percent pace in 2005.

The White House also forecast that the U.S. jobless rate will drop to 4.7 percent in 2006, lower than its previous forecast of a 5 percent.

However, the rate is expected to increase slightly to 4.8 percent in the next year and to 4.9 percent in 2008.

Source: Xinhua