New York, Sep 16 (DPA) US stocks climbed to new highs for 2009 as retail sales gained by the most in three years and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke said the country's recession was 'very likely' at an end.

Bernanke said there was general agreement among economists that the US would return to growth in the third quarter of this year and continue to pick up in 2010. The US has been in recession since December 2007.

But he said any recovery would be slower than in previous economic crises, which means unemployment will also be slow to fall. The US jobless rate climbed to 9.7 percent in August, its highest level in 26 years.

'The recession is very likely over at this point,' Bernanke told the non-partisan Brookings Institution in Washington. 'It's still gonna feel like a weak economy for some time.'

Retail sales climbed 2.