For 2010, little improvement seen in job market

[Craftsman]

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. economy is limping -- not sprinting -- out of the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009.

While the economy is likely to grow at a steady but unspectacular 3% pace in 2010, the prospects for significant job growth are dim and the unemployment rate could still be in the 10% neighborhood at this time next year, economists say.

Growth of 3% would be far slower than is usual after a steep recession (the economy grew nearly 10% in the year following the 1958 recession), but it would be slightly stronger than the 2.8% average of the past 20 years.

Above-trend growth "never felt so bad," wrote economists at JP Morgan Chase. "Growth will not be boomy. And growth will not go far in returning the economy to healthy levels of activity."

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/little-improvement-seen-in-job-market-in-2010-2009-12-24