CBO lowers economic outlook

(Reuters) - The economic outlook is gloomy and any drastic action could make things worse, according to testimony Tuesday before a congressional 'super committee" trying to cut the federal deficit.

The Congressional Budget Office -- the non-partisan budget and economic analyst for Congress -- said economic growth would slow from previous estimates and a nagging, 9.1 percent jobless rate would basically remain stuck there through next year's presidential and congressional elections.

"The economic outlook remains highly uncertain," CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf told an inaugural hearing of the congressional panel charged with finding at least $1.2 trillion in new government savings over the next decade....

The unemployment rate, now at 9.1 percent, will remain "close to 9 percent through the end of 2012," Elmendorf said.

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Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/13/us-usa-debt-supercommittee-idUSTRE78C40O20110913