It looks like the US recession is not about to end soon. From Bloomberg:
The Conference Board’s index of leading indicators, a gauge of the economy’s direction over the next three to six months, fell 0.4 percent in February, less than forecast. Manufacturing in the Philadelphia area shrank for the 15th time in 16 months, a Federal Reserve report showed, and the Labor Department said 5.47 million Americans are getting jobless benefits.
Meanwhile, the IMF sees the global economy contracting as well.
Global activity is now projected to contract by ½ to 1 percent in 2009 on an annual average basis—the first such fall in 60 years, the IMF said in an analysis provided to the Group of Twenty (G-20) industrialized and emerging market economies. Global growth is still forecast to stage a modest recovery next year, conditional on comprehensive policy steps to stabilize financial conditions, sizeable fiscal support, a gradual improvement in credit conditions, a bottoming of the U.S. housing market, and the cushioning effect from sharply lower oil and other major commodity prices.
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