Andrew Goodwin, senior economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club, said the modest pickup was "really the calm before the storm".

Several Burmese publications note that the city's small tourism infrastructure will have to expand rapidly even to meet a modest pickup in tourism in the following years.

Producer prices showed a modest pickup in November, rising only one-tenth of 1 percent when food and energy prices were excluded.

Ms. Kristiansen predicted there would be little improvement before the year's end, while Mr. Edelman said there might be a modest pickup.

Lawrence Chimerine, president of Chase Econometrics, a private forecasting firm, said, "We're seeing a modest pickup, particularly in those industries which are export sensitive, like paper and chemicals."

"This clearly has the potential to be a modest earnings-per-share pickup," he said.

"That said, looking out toward the end of the year, we think the trends are in the direction of a very modest pickup."

We are seeing some modest seasonal pickup.

"It's a modest pickup, but the environment still should be characterized as lackluster," he said.

A "modest pickup" in the second half of the year was the most likely outcome, he added.