The U.S. Federal Reserve expects the American economy will sink at a slower pace this year than it previously thought, but that unemployment will top 10 per cent, according to a forecast released Wednesday.

The Fed now predicts the economy will shrink between one and 1.5 per cent this year, an improvement from its forecast issued in May. At that time, the Fed projected the economy would contract between 1.3 and two per cent.

The upgrade comes from the expectation that the economy's downhill slide in the first half of 2009 wasn't as bad as previously thought. The Fed said the economy should start growing again in the second half of this year, although the pace is likely to be plodding.

Against that backdrop, the Fed's forecast for U.S. unemployment this year worsened. The central bank predicted the jobless rate could rise as high as 10.1 per cent, compared with its previous forecast of 9.6 per cent.

The U.S. unemployment rate climbed to 9.5 per cent in June, a 26-year high.

The predictions are based on what the Fed calls its "central tendency," which excludes the three highest and three lowest forecasts made by Fed officials. The central bank also gives a range of all the forecasts. That range showed that some officials expect the jobless rate could rise as high as 10.5 per cent this year.