No Double-Dip Recession in 2012: Study

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- Analysts at UCLA say the U.S. economy remains mired in a "slump," but do not foresee a double-dip recession through 2013.

The research comes from the UCLA Anderson Forecast -- a quarterly look at the U.S economy from the UCLA Anderson School of Management that until recently has been decidedly bleak in its outlook.

An economic forecast says the economy is in a "slump," but a double-dip recession is unlikely.

Consider the Anderson Forecast's third-quarter report, released Sept. 20, which said the "outlook for the nation is 'far worse' than it was just three months ago. Considering the weak, revised data for the first half of the year, the forecast calls for average gross domestic product growth of just 0.9% on average for the next five quarters and ending in the first quarter of 2012."

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But that was then and this is now, and the fourth-quarter forecast, while not exactly in the "roses and unicorns" category, seems much better than what UCLA told us in Q3.

In the fourth-quarter report, Anderson analysts do see a continued trough for the U.S. economy, with gross domestic product (the chief barometer of domestic economic activity) growing at a "below trend rate" over the next five quarters.

Statistically, the Anderson data sees just 2% growth in the last quarter of 2011 and a sub-2% growth rate for most of next year. The news does get better the further down the line that UCLA economists look, though, with a 3% gross domestic product growth rate pegged for 2013. But as economic analyses go, the farther out you look, the more likely changes will be made in those forecasts as economic events change -- and 2013 is still a long ways away.

But for the short term, the Anderson forecast is a slightly bullish one. According to the Q4 forecast, "Despite the tepid numbers, the current national forecast is actually more optimistic in tone than the preceding forecasts of June and September. In California, the current forecast is for the recent surge in employment to abate while slow growth persists on average through 2012. The rest of the United States, the state's international trading partners and consumer purchases will combine to generate faster growth in 2013."