The economy is still sinking, but some economists see a rate of decline that is less precipitous than before. If that’s the case, it could mean the longest recession in US history is beginning to bottom out.
A slower rate of decline is essential because production of goods and services has been in a steep dive since last fall. Although any lessening of the economic fall probably won’t affect the unemployment rate immediately, it could boost sagging consumer and business confidence and help the stock market, which is often a harbinger of economic improvement.
“We’re still declining, but we can see the valley down below,” says Sung Won Sohn, an economist at California State University, Channel Islands.
