The U.S. economy is poised to shake off the housing slump and regain momentum by the end of this year, and the credit goes to techies, bankers, chefs and shoppers, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of economists.

Economists believe the service sector should keep humming along as the recent weakness in housing and manufacturing abates and the Federal Reserve begins to reduce interest rates, said a report published by the business daily on Tuesday.

That would allow the economy to expand at a rate fast enough to keep investors happy, but slow enough to keep inflation at bay, the report said.

On average, the economists predict that inflation-adjusted gross domestic product will grow at an annualized rate of 2.3 percent in the first half of 2007 and 2.8 percent in the second half, according to the report.

The increase, up from a sluggish 2 percent in the third quarter of 2006, but was still far below the robust annual growth rates of 3.2 percent for 2005 and 4.1 percent for early 2006, the report added.

Source: Xinhua