The US recession’s grip on the economy appears to be easing but likely has not yet ended, according to a survey of economists released yesterday. The National Association for Business Economics’ quarterly industry survey found that demand is stabilising, but a small majority of the 102 respondents said their firms had not yet seen the bottom.

The survey “provides new evidence that the US recession is abating, but few signs of an immediate recovery,” said Sara Johnson, managing director of global macroeconomics for IHS Global Insight, who helped to analyse the report for the association. “Industry demand was still declining in the second quarter of 2009, but the breadth of decline had narrowed considerably since late 2008, raising prospects for stabilisation in the second half” of the year, she said. – (Reuters)