Leading Economists Growing More Optimistic

New York, NY, Jan. 27, 2011 -- Leading economists are growing more optimistic, the Associated Press said regarding its own Economy Survey.

However, AP said that unemployment will still be around 9 percent by year's end, and that it will be 2016 or later before unemployment drops to a historically normal rate of around 5 percent.

AP said that economists have become more confident, partly because lower Social Security taxes and higher stock prices will prompt Americans to spend more.

The gains this year will be enough to withstand the threats still clouding the economy, the AP survey found. A majority of the economists doubt, for example, that falling home prices and higher mortgage rates will pose a major risk to the economy in this year.