The nation’s business economists view the economy like a slow-moving freight train, MarketWatch.com said.

In its latest survey, the National Association of Business Economists (NABE) predicts the economy will expand at a 2.6 percent pace in 2011, down slightly from this year. The NABE upped its forecast for 2010 to 2.7 percent from 2.6 percent.

Business economists say faster growth is likely to be sidetracked by high debts, a decline in government stimulus and lower business spending, among other things.

The slow pace of economic recovery also means that new job growth in 2011 will barely keep pace with the rise in population, resulting in an unemployment rate that will hover above 9 percent all year. It now stands at 9.6 percent.

Consumer spending is likely to grow modestly, as will home sales; inflation and interest rates are expected to stay low, the organization said.

The federal deficit, meanwhile, will narrow by $100 billion in 2011, but remain at a “very high” $1.1 trillion, according to the NABE.

Economists who worry most about federal debt say government borrowing siphons money away from the job-creating private sector.

The biggest bright spot next year — as it was this year — is likely to be business spending, panelists said. Companies have been rebuilding low inventories throughout 2010; backed by solid profits, they are expected to spend and invest at a “double-digit” rate in 2011, the NABE said.