Economists upbeat about economy

They expect growth of better than 3.2 percent in each quarter this year, according to a WSJ survey. That's an improvement over earlier projections, though growth of around 3 percent, while perfectly fine during more robust times, is not fine enough when the economy is still trying to get back on its feet.

Amid the stronger growth forecasts, economists now expect the U.S. to generate nearly 180,000 jobs a month on average this year, significantly more than last year's average of 94,000. But with continued population growth, that isn't nearly enough to quickly bring down the unemployment rate, now at 9.4%. By the end of 2011, the economists, on average, expect the jobless rate to be 8.8%.