Analysts expect rapid growth in 2nd half of '03

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Even though U.S. companies are reluctant to hire workers, the economy over the second half of this year is expected to grow at the fastest pace since 1999.
That surprisingly upbeat prospect means that the Federal Reserve will see no need to cut interest rates at Tuesday's meeting, private economists believe.
In recent weeks, analysts have kept revising upward their economic forecasts, given a series of favorable government reports. Many analysts now believe the overall economy will expand at rates well above 4 percent in both the July-September period and the final three months of the year.
That would represent the strongest consecutive quarterly growth rates in the gross domestic product since the last half of 1999. It also would be a significant rebound from the 2 percent average rates over the past year.
"We are seeing very clear evidence of a strong pickup in activity this quarter," said Lyle Gramley, a senior economic adviser at Schwab Washington Research Group. "The evidence is in so much abundance that it has everybody revising up their forecasts."