Summers says no unremitting freefall in US economy

WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) - The sense of "unremitting freefall" in the U.S. economy has disappeared and the picture is no longer completely negative but rather mixed, President Barack Obama's economic adviser Lawrence Summers said on Sunday. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Summers also said he was hopeful that the Chrysler-Fiat auto negotiations would work out. "Six or eight weeks ago, there were no positive statistics to be found anywhere. The economy felt like it was falling vertically. Today, the picture is much more mixed," Summers said. "There are some negative indicators, to be sure. There are also some positive indicators. And no one knows what the next turn will be. But I think that sense of unremitting freefall that we had a month or two ago is not present today. And that's something we can take some encouragement from," he added. Summers also said U.S. economic imbalances cannot continue forever and the United States was on a path toward containing the economic downturn and toward recovery. (Editing by Patricia Zengerle) Keywords: USA ECONOMY/SUMMERS FREEFALL ([e-mail], 202 898 8300) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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