Reports hint U.S. recovery will be a rutted road
Data on Thursday underscored that the U.S. economic recovery, when it arrives, will be a long slog, with a key factory index showing only marginally less weakness and unemployment tipped to hit double-digit levels.
Financial markets were also slammed by suggestions of the unthinkable — that the United States could lose its coveted triple-A credit rating.
The developments came a day after the Federal Reserve, in minutes released from its April policy meeting, said that a full U.S. recovery could take five or six years.
On Thursday, the Philadelphia Fed reported that its closely watched indicator of factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region rose by a fraction in May, with the level of contraction more than markets had expected. Separately, an index of leading economic indicators for April managed its first increase in almost a year.
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