According to the survey, expectations are that the economy grew at an annual rate of 4% in the third quarter (preliminary GDP numbers will be released on October 29). This is similar to what the Federal Reserve believes that recent economic data shows that economic activity is picking up after the recession.

One thing that all the economists agreed upon was that the recovery is going to be "slow and painful." In fact, the NABE said that the recovery could leave "many people and businesses feeling the effects of the downturn for years to come." The economists expect there to be continued weakness in both labor and housing. Furthermore, tight credit markets are expected to slow economic growth into the next year.

The economists surveyed by NABE further expect unemployment to hit 10% at some point in the final quarter of the year, which isn't really going out on a limb. What is a bit frightening is the fact that the survey results show that 54% of the economists don't believe the jobs lost will be recovered until 2012, with 38% believing it will be longer. Only three of the economists questioned believe that the jobs lost will come back this year or next. Roughly a third of the economists believe that home prices will not hit their nadir until sometime in 2010.

These latest results are a good deal more optimistic than those from May when the last NABE survey showed that just 18% of the economists questioned believed the economy would recover this year and 7% predicted recovery in 2010.