A panel of economists provided forecasts of the U.S. economy for the first six months of 2007 (The Wall Street Journal, January 2, 2007). The percent changes in the gross domestic product (GDP) forecasted by 30 economists are as follows.

2.6 3.1 2.3 2.7 3.4 0.9 2.6 2.8 2.0 2.4 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.9 3.1 2.8 1.7 2.3 2.8 3.5 0.4 2.5 2.2 1.9 1.8 1.1 2.0 2.1 2.5 0.5

a. What is the minimum forecast for the percent change in the GDP? What is the maximum?

b. Compute the mean, median, and mode.

c. Compute the first and third quartiles.

d. Did the economists provide an optimistic or pessimistic outlook for the U.S. economy?

Discuss.