While economists expect GDP growth to rebound from a weak first quarter, the recovery probably won't be strong enough to fuel 3 percent growth for the year as a whole, says Princeton University economist and former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Alan Blinder.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg produced a median forecast of 1.5 percent growth for the first quarter and 2.7 percent for the year as a whole.

As for Blinder, now a Princeton economist, "I certainly think there's going to be a rebound from the first quarter," he told Yahoo.

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"But to make a 3 percent year . . . we've got to do a lot better than 3 percent in the remaining three quarters, and I'm just not quite that optimistic. I just don't see where the growth is going to come from. . . . We're still not out of the woods."

American consumers are "doing fine" but not well enough for a surge in growth, Blinder said. Retail sales rose 1.1 percent in March.

Fiscal policy should restrain the economy less than last year, but will still hurt, he said.

Some analysts grew enthusiastic about the economy after last month's news that GDP expanded 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter.

"The economy is shaking off the negative impacts from the weather,” Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo, told Bloomberg. "We’re beginning to see signs that growth is going to gain some traction and strengthen and accelerate as the year progresses."

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