The Obama administration’s budget predicts the U.S. economy will grow 2.7 percent this year, a forecast that’s more optimistic than those of private economists and Federal Reserve policy makers, Bloomberg reported.

The White House raised the 2012 estimate from 2.6 percent in September. Economists forecast an expansion of 2.2 percent at an annual rate, according to the median of 79 estimates in a survey by Bloomberg News conducted from Feb. 3 to Feb. 9.

“Today, we are seeing signs that our economy is on the mend,” President Barack Obama said in a letter to Congress accompanying the 2013 budget proposal and the projections. “But we are not out of the woods yet.”

The White House’s growth forecast for 2013 was cut to 3 percent from 3.5 percent in September. The administration’s projections released today are based on information available as of November.

The president’s economic team has become more optimistic about the economy, leading them to lower their unemployment forecast. Obama’s advisers see employers adding 2 million jobs this year if administration policies are adopted, said Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

The White House projections released today call for gross domestic product growth  of 3.6 percent in 2014 and 4.1 percent in 2015. They foresee the jobless rate dropping to 8.1 percent in 2014 and 7.3 percent in 2015.

In today’s budget report, the administration projected the consumer price index would rise 2.2 percent this year, 1.9 percent in 2013 and 2 percent the following year, Bloomberg said.