The country’s economic health is steadily improving and on a path to sustained economic expansion in 2011, according to the Economic Advisory Committee (EAC) of the American Bankers Association. “The economy is transitioning from reliance on monetary and fiscal stimulus to a sustained expansion in the private sector. Businesses and consumers are feeling more confident about the economy, and job growth will accelerate as layoffs diminish and small business hiring picks up,” said Stuart G. Hoffman, acting committee chairman and chief economist of PNC Financial Services Group Inc. The EAC foresees another 2.1 million new jobs in 2011, well beyond the 1.1 million new jobs the economy added in 2010 and predicts that in 2011, loans to consumers will expand by 2.7 percent and loans to businesses will grow by 4.3 percent.
