The U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) declined a smaller-than-projected one percent in the second quarter of 2009, according to a report out today from the Commerce Department.

Though that performance marks the fourth straight quarter the U.S. economy has contracted, the drop was smaller than the expected 1.5 percent, and substantially less than the 6.4 percent slide recorded in the first quarter of the year.

Experts see this as a sign that the recession may have hit bottom this past spring, and some predict that the GDP will return to growth in the third quarter. Unemployment is still predicted to remain high as businesses wait to be sure the recovery is well underway.