AP survey: Sluggish global economic recovery ahead

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A robust recovery for the global economy remains well out of reach.

That's the view that emerges from a survey of economists just as the Federal Reserve is expected this week to reduce its stimulus for the U.S. economy.

Europe has finally emerged from recession. Japan is growing after two decades of stagnation. And the United States is trudging ahead. Yet an Associated Press survey of more than two dozen economists suggests that global growth will remain below full health this year and next.

Persistently weak growth would make it harder to resolve many of the world's biggest economic challenges. They include historically high unemployment in Europe, sluggish spending by consumers and businesses in the United States, heavy government debts in Europe and Japan and unstable economies in some emerging nations.

The economists think the 17 nations that use the euro will grow at an annual rate barely above 1 percent in the second half of 2013 and in 2014. From April through June, the eurozone eked out its first quarterly growth after 18 months of contraction — a 1.2 percent annual rate. No acceleration is foreseen in the next year and a half.

The United States and Japan are expected to fare only slightly better.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130917/US--AP.Economy.Survey/

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Edited September 17, 2013 by Mr. Big Dog