Some Forecasters Raising GDP Estimates

New York, NY, Nov. 18, 2011 -- Some economic forecasters are raising their estimates for fourth quarter growth and believe gross domestic product could increase more than 3%.

That would be the fastest growth in 18 months.

Bloomberg News said that economists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. predict that GDP will rise 3% in the final quarter, up from a previous prediction of 2.5%.

Macroeconomic Advisers in St. Louis increased its forecast to 3.2% from 2.9% at the start of November, while New York-based Morgan Stanley & Co. boosted its outlook to 3.5% from 3%.

Consumption, business spending and residential investment are all pointing to higher growth.