The U.S. economy will barely expand in the second quarter and the chances of it shrinking have risen, following sluggish growth early in the year, said a Philadelphia Federal Reserve survey released Tuesday.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the credit crisis is not over, even as his colleagues revealed growing concerns about inflation that could signal a pause in interest rate cuts.

Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Sandra Pianalto said on Tuesday that although core U.S. price measures were climbing faster than she wanted, Fed monetary policy was compatible with low inflation.

It's a busy week on the economic calendar, with the consumer price index, data on housing starts and the Philly Fed index all expected.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed more than expected in March on a record plunge in the value of imports, even as average oil prices surged to a new record, a Commerce Department report on Friday showed.

“We're of the opinion that the market has likely seen the worst,” says Standard & Poor’s Chief Investment Strategist Sam Stovall. He's not alone.

Oil prices have soared nearly 10 percent in the past four sessions alone, and CNBC asked the experts for insights and answers.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Thursday tax rebates now being issued to Americans will immediately help consumers and bolster the economy by summer.

The number of US workers filing claims for initial jobless benefits fell more than expected last week, according to a report Thursday that suggested the labor market, while soft, was not deteriorating rapidly.

The first batch of U.S. taxpayers has already started to receive their federal tax rebates as part of the economic stimulus package, but very few consumers interviewed by Reuters in the past week said they plan to spend them on anything other than necessities.

The U.S. credit crisis is easing and the risk in housing is dramatically lower now, but economic growth will remain under pressure , the CEO of Merrill Lynch said.

US businesses cut back sharply on worker hours during the first three months of this year as the economy slowed, driving up productivity to a higher-than-expected 2.2 percent annual pace.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said U.S. financial markets are emerging from the credit crunch that many economists believe has pushed the country to the brink of recession, according to The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. manufacturing will see only "marginal" growth this year, according to an industry survey released Tuesday highlighting the difficulties facing the U.S. economy.

Martin Feldstein, head of  the National Bureau of Economic Research, told CNBC: "the odds are we will slide into a recession."