US economy is improving, Summers says

Shanghai : The US economy is no longer in "free-fall", Lawrence Summers, director of the White House National Economic Council, said yesterday in a pre-recorded video shown at a forum in Shanghai.

"Statistics on sentiment and economic activity suggest a more mixed picture than they did two months ago," Summers said. "The economy appeared to be in free-fall, much like a ball rolling off the side of a table, in October. Today, no one will describe the economy in that way."

Industrial production contracted at the slowest pace in six months, as output at US factories, mines and utilities decreased 0.5 per cent in April after dropping 1.7 per cent in March, Federal Reserve figures showed on Friday. The Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment rose to 67.9 in May from 65.1 in April.

"To be sure, the lull that we're seeing now does not assure that a foundation for continued recovery has been established," Summers said.