A recent Bloomberg survey of economists predicts the economy will grow between 2 and 2.5 percent this year. Overall, they expect growth in 2013 to be roughly the same as 2012.
At the same time, economists are trying to figure out the stock market, which is growing at an encouraging pace.
Strong earnings from tech giants pushed the stock market to a five-year high, Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at its highest level since October of 2001. And a new report shows new home sales last year were the best since 2009.
But Sen. Ted Cruz told CBN news Chief Political Correspondent David Brody that major concerns about the economy continue.
“In the last four years under President Obama our economy has grown 1.5 percent. That’s less than half the historical average. The historical average since WWII has been 3.3 percent,” Cruz said.
“If we can’t get the economy growing, we can’t solve any of these problems,” he added.
Experts fear whether or not Washington will tackle the debt crisis and take a hard look at spending.
Bill Frezza, with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said he expects a tough economic year.
“We’re not going to see the kind of growth we need to outrun our problems. We’re certainly going to see inflation,” he said.
Many hope the stock market will continue to prosper and that the real estate market will continue to rebound. Those areas could pave the way for job growth in March when firms typically pick up their hiring.
Click below to watch CBN News Financial Editor Drew Parkhill talk more about the current economic outlook and the stock market, on CBN Newswatch.
