The U.S. economy will grow 3.2 percent and create 2.4 million to 2.6 million jobs in 2011, but faster growth is necessary to put millions more to work and move past the bumpy post-recession recovery phase that has been going on for 18 months, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said.

Government figures in the near future will likely show that the gross domestic product expanded more than 3 percent during the fourth quarter of 2010, said Martin Regalia, the chamber's chief economist, during a Jan. 11 panel discussion following the annual "State of Business" address by President Tom Donahue.

The chamber projects growth in the 3-percent to 3.5-percent range for the first half of the year and 3.5 percent in the second half, Regalia said. But until the economy is consistently growing above 3.5 percent consumer demand will not be robust enough to generate jobs "and create a self-sustaining period of economic growth," he said.

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