Corporate spending is showing signs growth despite still low levels, the chief executive of American Express Co. said on Thursday.

Kenneth Chenault, the CEO of the credit card company and financial services company CEO, said that in the recently completed third quarter spending levels for its card holders were down from the same period a year ago.

However he added that overall billings had stabilized the recent months.

“[W]e saw indications that spending by corporate cardmembers is beginning to pick up,” he said in a statement released along with the company’s third quarter results.

He warned, however, that “credit markets remain volatile.”

“Today, while there is still reason to be cautious about high unemployment levels, we are seeing broad-based improvements in credit quality, the trends in cardmember spending are encouraging and there are signs that the recession may be approaching an end,” he said.

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