Career Advice & News Center

Though many Americans may be planning to turn over a new leaf in 2010, unfortunately the economy and job markets cannot simply decide to perk up in the new year. In fact, as businesses face heavy debts and substantial trouble receiving loans, most economic analysts are predicting an uphill battle toward economic recovery over the next 12 months.

Russ Koesterich, the head of investment strategy equities at the assets management firm Blackrock, told the San Francisco Chronicle that "the economy is on the mend, but it's likely to be a subpar recovery."

Predicting a moderate GDP growth of two to three percent, he commented, "Normally you come out of a recession because the Fed is lowering rates, which leads to greater spending. That's not the case this time. Consumer spending will be less than normal coming out of recession because the consumer is carrying too much debt."

According to a survey by the nonprofit corporate support organization, Turnaround Management Association, a total of 49 percent of economists agree with Koesterich and believe that a sustainable improvement in America's distressed industries is unachievable until at least the second half of 2010.

By comparison, about 30 percent of respondents said they thought the worst of the recession was over, and almost 20 percent believe the economy has yet to reach its low point.

Specifically, the majority of analysts surveyed (75 percent) predicted that reluctant lenders and maturing debt will cause the commercial real estate industry to fare the worst in 2010, followed by the retail and automotive industries.

Most respondents to the Turnaround Management poll pointed to tax incentives for hiring, capital spending and technology as the most effective way to pull out of the recession, while others thought that stimulus spending my still be able to put the millions of unemployed Americans back to work.