The housing market is still on life support, and if government measures are withdrawn too quickly it could sink it, taking the economy down with it. Households have such high debt loads, in addition to their mortgages, that any reduction in income, including a job loss, could trigger a foreclosure.

—Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, projects a dour mood on the future as GDP recovers 5.7%, 100BPs better than consensus.