BRUSSELS, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The economic recession in the European Union might be ending but the road to recovery will be bumpy and the conditions for sustained growth are not yet in place, European businesses said on Monday.
BusinessEurope, an organisation representing some 20 million firms in Europe, forecast the economy of the 16-country euro currency zone would contract 4.1 percent this year and grow by 0.5 percent in 2010.
For the whole European Union of 27 member states, BusinessEurope forecast a contraction of 3.9 percent this year and growth of 0.7 percent in 2010.
The group saw euro zone inflation this year at 0.3 percent, rising to 1.3 percent in 2010 -- still well under the European Central Bank's target of below, but close to, 2 percent.
Unemployment in the euro zone would rise to 9.8 percent this year and 11.3 percent in 2010, BusinessEurope said.
"Positive second-quarter GDP growth in some EU member states and improvements in national and global confidence indicators suggest that the recession might be drawing to a close," BusinessEurope said in a statement.
"However, it is too early to give the 'all clear'," it said.
"At present, BusinessEurope expects the economic environment to remain extremely volatile, allowing for only subdued positive quarter-on-quarter growth for the second half of 2009," the statement added. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Dale Hudson)