New York  - 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 United States 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 per cent 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 2.7 per cent in August after a 0.2-per-cent drop in July, the Commerce Department said, beating economist expectations.

The rise was driven partly by an uptick in demand for cars that has been attributed to the government's popular cash-for-clunkers programme over the summer months. Excluding automobiles, retail sales climbed 1.1 per cent.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 56.61 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 9,683.41. The broader Standard and Poor's 500 picked up 3.29 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 1,052.63. The technology- heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 10.86 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 2,102.64.

The US currency fell against the euro to 68.20 euro cents from 68.36 euro cents on Monday. The dollar climbed to 91.06 Japanese yen from 90.90 yen.  dpa