The government has slightly downgraded its estimate of economic growth in the first three months of this year. The economy is not expected to grow strongly enough to generate many new jobs for the rest of 2010.

Another problem with the weak recovery has been a growing number of personal bankruptcies.

Nearly 1.5 million Americans filed for bankruptcy last year and the number grew in the first quarter of this year.

Economists said unemployment and the housing crisis are key factors for the rise in bankruptcies.

"We're out of recession, but the recovery is not going to bring a whole lot of smiles," said Joel Naroff, of Naroff Economic Advisors.