Ethan Harris, head of Developed Markets Economic Research at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (COURTESY OF BANK OF AMERICA)

Global GDP growth will slow to 4.2 percent in 2011, down from last year's growth rate of 4.9 percent, said a top analyst from Bank of America-Merrill Lynch's global research department during its annual research outlook briefing in New York City on December 14.

"The world is still healing from the wounds of the economic crisis, so we believe the U.S. economy will muddle through in 2011 and global economic growth will slow modestly compared to 2010," said Ethan Harris, head of Developed Markets Economic Research at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

According to Harris, the growth of emerging markets will remain robust at 6.4 percent, accounting for three-quarters of the world's total GDP growth for 2011. He said that the U.S. economy will grow by around 2.8 percent, with growth slowly picking up throughout the year.

Harris estimated that the unemployment rate in the United States will not see much improvement in 2011. He said that capital expenditures and corporate spending will be much stronger than consumer spending in the upcoming year. Core inflation, he predicted, will remain lower than previously forecasted and will hover around 1 percent for the whole year.

(Reporting from New York)