Through all the negative news about the economy, Nielsen released a glimmer of good news for small business owners this week with the latest Nielsen Economic Current projections.
Although the study predicted that unemployment will continue to slowly rise, as will the savings rate, America's GDP - which has been steadily decreasing since 2007 - will bottom out by the end of 2009 at a 2.5 percent decrease, only to rebound to a 2.2 percent increase by 2010.
The study also projected that consumer expenditure will start to pick up by 2010, increasing 1 percent by the end of 2009 and then 1.9 percent by the end of 2010.
Other key indicators of current economic performance did not fare so well in May - the last month for which data was available - with results that consumers are shopping slightly less frequently for the third month in a row.
The study also found that consumers are paying the same per trip as they did in April, putting an end to a consistent 4-month increase.
The survey results follow the Department of Commerce's announcement this week that manufacturing sales declined 0.1 percent from the previous month.
If this news for entrepreneurs inspired you, you can find plenty more like it on our site. We cover important news stories for entrepreneurs. In addition to breaking news for entrepreneurs, we also have tons of how-to articles that cover common small business challenges like writing a business plan, preparing a marketing plan, getting publicity and much more.