Area business leaders will hear the annual economic forecast Thursday as they gather at the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce’s Regional Economic Outlook Breakfast.

The event, scheduled for 7:30 a.m. at the New Haven Lawn Club, will feature Todd P. Martin, economic adviser to People’s Bank, and Richard S. Guralnick, a senior broker with H. Pearce Commercial Real Estate. They will cover economic ground ranging from national monetary policy and globalization to the local impact of high energy costs and the outlook for job growth.

"There doesn’t seem to be any sort of consensus," said chamber President Tony Rescigno, speaking about the new year’s outlook so far. "I’m hoping on Thursday we get a clearer picture."

Rescigno also said he’s looking forward to hearing forecasts on the housing market and whether it will continue to remain a strong part of the economy over the next year.

Guralnick said he will focus his report on the commercial real estate market, including office space, industrial space and mixed-use space. He will compare New Haven, Stamford and Greenwich, for example, to show where the area stands and where the development trends are headed.

The state continues to lag the nation in job growth, Martin said, but output and productivity in Connecticut is high compared with the nation as a whole.

"The outlook is pretty decent for 2006, though nationally we’ll see the economy slow down somewhat," Martin said.

He plans to speak about some of the current employment trends in the state as well as cost-of-living and transportation issues.

H. Pearce Commercial Real Estate specializes in Connecticut’s central, south-central, and Shoreline markets, with offices in North Haven and Rocky Hill. Commercial property offerings can be found in color on the web at www.HPearceCommercial.com.