Comstock Images/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The economy is expected to pick up strength between now and the end of 2014, according to the latest outlook survey from the National Association for Business Economics (NABE).

"The panelists are estimating 2.4 percent growth in real GDP (gross domestic product) from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the fourth quarter of 2013 and they suggest an improvement in real GDP growth to 3 percent in 2014," says Dr. Nayantara Hensel, chair of the NABE Outlook Survey Committee.

Hensel says the 49 panelists surveyed are more upbeat about consumer spending, the housing market and unemployment.

"The panelists are predicting an improvement in the unemployment rate for this year and next year, in fact they're suggesting that by the fourth quarter of 2013, the unemployment rate will be at 7.4 percent, by the fourth quarter in 2014 it will be at 6.8 percent," she says.

But they see one area of concern: government spending cuts.

"The panelists suggest an even stronger decline in government spending this year relative to last year, which negatively impact GDP growth," Hensel says.

"The economy only grew about two and a half percent in the first quarter of this year and in large part that was because of the sharp 11 and a half percent drop in military spending," she notes.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The latest real estate boom to sweep America comes with all the trappings of luxurious living: custom-built swimming pools, gyms, full-length basketball courts and even airplane hangars. The only catch is that this time, the features are all buried underground.

The boom in bomb shelter sales over the past 15 years has taken the spartan 1950s notion of a fallout shelter and given it a makeover, according to the owners of three companies that make and sell shelters.

Now, custom installations can create 100,000-square foot underground dwellings that could hold dozens of people for months or years.

"You can have all your major amenities: TV, high power and high voltage (appliances)... horticulture rooms where you can grow vegetables and gardens, a full shower, all the amenities of your full home. We're not limiting what people can do," said Brad Roberson, marketing director for Rising S Company, which builds and installs custom shelters.

The basic requirements that most owners want in a shelter include air filtration systems to protect from nuclear, chemical and biological warfare, ventilation systems and a toilet system, as well as blast-proof and fallout-proof casing on the outside, he and other makers told ABC News.

But in addition to that, shelters can have "secret doors, hidden passageways, panic rooms, bulletproof glass," running water, toilets, showers and electricity, according to Roberson.

"Budget and imagination are the only limits," he said.

A bunker on the small side of 10 feet by 20 feet starts at about $54,000.  They go up from there to $10 million, Roberson said.

In the past 15 years, companies that make and sell underground bunkers have sprouted up around the country, mainly in the West and South, according to the founders of three companies.

"I think probably around the year 2000 we started seeing quite an increase in sales," said Sharon Packer, co-owner of Utah Shelter Systems in Draper, Utah.  Her company installs shelters made out of 10-foot wide concrete pipes linked together to create rooms six feet underground.

"People were concerned about the very real issue of possible effects on our computers.  'Y2K' started the upsurge, and for 13 years it's been a good steady business," Packer said.  "After 9/11 we had a big surge in the East, in New York."

Recently, fears of a nuclear armed Iran or North Korea have stoked the fear that a nationwide disaster would force residents to retreat to safety underground, to wait out nuclear fallout or social instability, Packer and others said.

"It's sad to say, the worse the state of affairs get, our government gets, the closer we see these policies the government is forcing down our throats, and foreign threats as well.  It inflames peoples' desire to give themselves a retreat," Roberson said.

"People are awakening to the threat," Packer said.  "A lot of it is the terrorist attacks, a lot of it is the economy.  People are concerned about having a government failure.  Some of it is Earth changes."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Scott Olson/Getty Images(ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla.) -- A single ticket matching all the numbers in Saturday's $590.5 million Powerball drawing was sold at a Zephyrhills, Fla., grocery store, according to lottery officials.

The winning numbers in Saturday's drawing were 10, 13, 14, 22, 52, and a Powerball of 11.

The identity of the lucky ticket holder was not immediately known. Florida Lottery officials did not indicate whether anyone had come forward to claim the jackpot yet.

Earlier estimates had put the jackpot at $600 million, however the Powerball website reflected at adjusted total of $590.5 million, still the largest jackpot in the game's history.

The previous record for a Powerball jackpot was $587.5 million on Nov. 28, 2012.

The odds of winning the top jackpot was 1 in 175.2 million.

Lottery officials said 80 percent of the possible combinations had been purchased, making it likely a ticket would match all five numbers and the winning Powerball.

The person or group holding the ticket will have to decide whether to take an annuity or the lump sum, which comes out to $370,896,780.54.

While there was only one grand prize winner, 31 tickets matched all five numbers, earning those lucky ticket holders a prize of $1 million each. Two tickets sold in New York and South Carolina were Power Play winners worth $2 million each, according to Powerball officials.

In the one month since California joined the list of 42 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands in playing, Powerball fever has swept across the Golden State and played a part in helping the jackpot swell to a record level, lottery officials said.

The country's most populous state became one of the top ticket sellers, alongside Florida and New York. Lottery officials said total ticket sales had hit $464 million for Saturday's historic drawing.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio