The Federal Reserve may have stopped the economic bleeding caused by a summer credit crunch, the latest WSJ.com forecasting survey suggests, as economists turned more optimistic in the last month. The October survey showed the average forecast for chance of recession moved lower to 34%. That was the first decrease since June and followed a forecast of a 36% probability of recession in the August survey. Expectations for payrolls growth and corporate profits rebounded.
The economists still paint a bleak picture of the housing market, marking down their projections for housing starts and home prices in both 2007 and 2008 for the fourth consecutive time.
The economists still paint a bleak picture of the housing market, marking down their projections for housing starts and home prices in both 2007 and 2008 for the fourth consecutive time.