Economic reports in the US have shown the economy is likely to grow slowly for the next few months.

Very little inflation is expected and the job market is likely to remain lean.

The US government has said inflation remained low in February with overall prices unchanged.

Only within the volatile area of food and energy were there any small changes.

The US central bank has predicted the economic slowdown will leave factories operating below capacity with many people remaining out of work.

The low job turnover will mean producers will find it hard to demand price increases while workers will not be able to ask for more money.

The US Labour Department has said the number of workers signing up for unemployment compensation decreased by 5,000 to a total of 457,000 last week.