UPDATE 1-US economy to worsen, but at slower rate -Cohen

(Updates with quotes, byline)

By Emily Chasan

NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is likely to worsen over the next several months but will deteriorate more slowly, Goldman Sachs' senior investment strategist Abby Joseph Cohen said on Thursday.

"I do think the economy is going to be getting worse, but over the next several months, it will be getting worse at a slower rate," Cohen said in comments to the CFA Institute Global Financial Crisis Roundtable in New York.

However, Cohen said she believes the long-term prospects for the U.S. economy are better than for many other industrialized countries.

"GDP declines in the fourth quarter of 2008 and in the first quarter of 2009 will be dreadful, however we do believe there are some dynamics under way within the U.S. economy that will suggest that we could see stabilization and some glimmer of growth by the end of 2009," Cohen said.

Value is being re-established in financial markets, she said, and the United States may be entering a time when public equity markets are most attractive as they have more liquidity and transparency, she said.

"We now have re-established attractive value in many, but not all, corporate equities and some, but not all, corporate bonds and some securities issued by various governments. That gives us some hope," Cohen said.

She said investors had to think further about the reasons behind "price insensitive selling" that has been taking place, and how the pressures on those who hold securities may be different from the underlying value within those securities.  Continued...