Economic Growth May be Stronger in 2006, Survey Says

he U.S. economy is likely to continue expanding into 2006 despite high energy prices, according to a new business survey, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The relatively short-term impact of Hurricane Katrina will not be enough to disrupt moderate growth, the National Association of Business Economists’ survey said, the Journal reported.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, some economists had suggested that economic growth could be trimmed by a half-percentage point through the rest of the year and by 0.2% next year, the paper said. Overall, gross domestic product growth was forecast to rise 3.5% for 2005 and 3.4% for 2006.

The survey’s results were announced at the group’s annual meeting in Chicago Monday.