They said in a research note they pared their view on domestic gross product in the last three months of last year by 1 percentage point to 0.5 percent, which they added "still might be too high in light of what could be much larger inventory liquidation than what we have assumed."

The year-end weakness would spread into the first quarter of this year. The economists scaled back their first-quarter GDP forecast by half a point, to 1.5 percent, they said.

They stuck with their GDP estimates on the second quarter, third quarter and fourth quarter at 2.2 percent; 2.1 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

Despite the downgrades, the Deutsche Bank economists expect further improvement in the jobs market, which would allow the Federal Reserve to raise short-term interest rates by 25 basis points in the first quarter from the current 0.25-0.50 percent range.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Dan Grebler)