The Federal Reserve raised its economic expectations slightly for the end of this year as well as for 2021, according to the central bank’s Summary of Economic Projections released on Wednesday. The central bank now expects real gross domestic product to fall just 2.4 percent in 2020, compared to a decline of 3.7 percent predicted in September, CNBC reports. The Fed also upped its 2021 real GDP forecast to 4.2 percent from 4 percent expected previously. The Jerome Powell-led Fed estimates the unemployment rate to fall to 6.7 percent this year, further below the 7.6 percent previously predicted. The unemployment rate should fall to 5 percent in 2021, compared to the central bank’s previous estimate of 5.5 percent.

Source: The Standard December 17, 2020 00:56 UTC