U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (02/10/12)

The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s first-quarter survey of professional forecasters has revised up the estimated job growth to average 144,100 per month in 2012. The previous forecast had estimated an average of 123,200 new jobs a month for the year. The U.S. unemployment rate for 2012 is now forecast to average 8.3%, down from the previous estimate of 8.8%.

Forecasters estimated growth in U.S. real gross domestic product for full-year 2012 at 2.3%, down from a previous estimate of 2.4%. Growth is projected to pick up through 2015 when forecasters estimate 3.1% growth.