U.S.: The economy is gradually emerging from recession

Washington, March 3 - U.S. Commerce Department says that costumer spending in January increased more than was anticipated.

Analysts say that this increase is another sign that the U.S. economy is gradually emerging from the worst recession since '30s.

While costumer spending feed about 70 percent of economic activity in the United States, economists say that other factors are becoming an obstacle in the way of recovery:

The American economy grew at rates faster than expected in late 2009. But now, some analysts say that this momentum in the recovery fell.

Although costumer's costs increased slightly in January, economists Diane Swonk says home sales continued to be weak:

"The housing market has been recovering from very low levels that we saw during the recession peak. But we should not say that this is a great progress."

Despite the amount of up to 8 thousand dollars the tax return Americans to buy homes for the first time, sales of homes fell for the second consecutive month.

Some say that the snow precipitation may have been the cause. But with declining prices, real estate agents predict improvements in March and April.

"The housing market has to be more profitable for the buyer because we have low interest and low prices. It is a very good moment. "

Although production rates, which reflect demand, increased in February, some economists say the recovery will not be as quick as after previous recessions. John Silvia is chief economist at Wells Fargo Bank:

"I think that the rates of consumer spending reflect weak labor market."

Rates of job losses were slowed down last year, but nearly 15 million Americans are still without work. Mr. Silvia envisages improvement of the situation soon:


"We predict that there will be an increase of the employment numbers by the second third month period of this year, so we have to wait for 2-3 months to see the positive signs."

Americans will have a better idea about the economic prospects this coming Friday when the Labor Department issues its monthly report for the labor market.

Source:ekonomia-ks.com/04.03.2010