NY Fed's Cumming: US recovery likely to be sluggish

NEW YORK, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Recent data has suggested the U.S. recession may be coming to an end but the recovery will likely be sluggish and risks remain, a senior Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday.

"It appears that we are at the bottom of the recession, but it seems it won't be the easiest and snappiest recovery ahead of us," Christine Cumming, first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said in a speech to the Eastern Connecticut State University.

"We view the risks as still very much skewed to the downside, in other words a lot could still go wrong and we have to be careful," Cumming said.

Cumming said that "substantial slack" in the U.S. economy is putting pressure on prices. But, she said, inflation expectations are well-anchored.

(Reporting by Kristina Cooke, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)