Analysts Looks Optimism for 2013

For the year 2013, analysts are quite optimistic regarding growth and hope that hiring will see an increase in the upcoming months. On Monday a quarterly survey was released by the National Association for Business Economists, which shows that 50 per cent of the economists polled now expect the growth of Gross Domestic Product to remain between 2 and 4 per cent in 2013. This is an increase from the 36 per cent of the respondents who had the same expectations three months ago. Almost half expect negative or sluggish performance, down from 65 per cent in October.

This latest survey was conducted between December 20 and January 8 and questioned some 65 economists and others who use economics in the workplace regarding the conditions at their industries or firms. It found out that in the next six months, 34 per cent of the firms now expect to expand their payrolls, this is the highest percentage since April of last year.

On the other hand 2 per cent said that they expect their companies to cut payrolls through layoff, while 14 per cent said that they expect trimming of payrolls through attrition. According to a quarter of respondents, in the fourth quarter, employment grew at their firms, which can be compared with the levels seen in the first half of 2012.

The same percentage of people also mentioned an increase in wages in their firms in the final three months of the year, an increase of 10 percentage points as compared to the previous survey. In the fourth quarter, the overall sales growth remained stable with mixed results across the industries. For example, slowed down growth was recorded in finance, services, real estate and insurance sectors, however an increase in the utilities, transportation, communication and information sectors.