NEW YORK, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- William Dudley, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, said on Monday that the U.S. economy is likely to see a moderate growth in 2010.

    "The situation is slowly improving. We are having a recovery in terms of output and the pace of job losses has slowed substantially," Dudley said at the Columbia University World Leaders Forum in New York.

    "In the second half of this year, real GDP growth will likely fall in a 3 percent to 3.5 percent annualized range. 2010 will probably be slightly weaker than that, mostly because some of the current sources of strength are temporary," he added.

    "The inventory cycle is providing lots of support right now and the fiscal stimulus, which is very powerful right now, will abate as we go through 2010."

    The U.S. economy "improved modestly" in late October and November, with moderate gains in consumer spending, manufacturing and housing offsetting "dismal" conditions in commercial real estate, the Federal Reserve said in its latest Beige Book report on the economy.

    Eight of 12 Fed regions reported the economy had picked up since mid-October, while conditions were little changed or mixed in the four bank regions stretching from Ohio and Pennsylvania to the south.

    "2010 is also likely to be a more moderate growth period because we still face quite a few headwinds generated by the hangover of the financial crisis. The banks are still under pressure in terms of credit losses. The shadow banking system is still impaired and securitization activity is recovering very slowly," said Dudley.

    Earlier Monday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Economic Club of Washington that there still was not sufficient momentum to declare that the nascent economic recovery would be long lasting.

    "Though we have seen some improvement in economic activity, we still have some way to go before we can be assured that the recovery will be self-sustaining," said Bernanke.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis