The U.S. unemployment rate will steadily decrease from around 9.8% in the current quarter to 9.1% in the second quarter of 2011, according to the second quarter Survey of Professional Forecasters released today by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The unemployment rate will lower to 7.1% in 2013.

Second-quarter economic survey forecasts are uniformly more upbeat than forecasts in the first-quarter report.

The second-quarter report estimates U.S. job growth will slow a bit in the third quarter before picking up steam again in the fourth. It expects real gross domestic product to grow by 3.3% in 2010 and by 3.1% in 2011.

The survey includes forecasts from 44 economists. To go to an online version of the report, click here.