The number of borrowers who were at least two months behind on their mortgages reached 5.22 percent, rising compared to the previous quarter for the ninth quarter in a row, according to credit analyst TransUnion.

The silver-lining in this is that the growth rate of the increase at least declined compared to the fourth quarter of 2008, experts say. This was the first percentage decline since December 2007, says Keith Carson, a senior consultant for TransUnion.

“While this may sound like trying to make good news out of bad,” he says, “in fact it is an indication that we may be currently working our way through the worst of the recession.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Keith Kingsbury (06/01/2009)