MillerCoors, the second-largest brewer in the U.S. behind Anheuser-Busch, said the economic slump will probably slow the growth of the U.S. beer industry, but less dramatically than wine and spirits.

The brewer of Miller Lite and Coors Light expects the annual growth rate of the U.S. beer market to be 0.6 percent between 2009 and 2012. That would be a fairly noticeable slowdown from the 0.9 percent annual growth posted between 2004 and 2008. (Numbers courtesy of Reuters; read the story here.)

By contract, spirits growth will be 1.1 percent in the upcoming four-year period, compared to 2.7 percent in the past four years, the brewer said.

Okay, so beer is a stable industry in the U.S. We get that. And big brewers make a lot of noise about having beers for all occasions - cheap stuff for when drinkers are feeling frugal, and more expensive stuff when they want to treat themselves. But we have to think that brewers would prefer that the more profitable high-end beers would grow faster (or stop shrinking.) Will that happen in the near future? We’re not sure. But here’s an interesting data point:

MillerCoors‘ two economy brands, Miller High Life and Keystone Light, are both gaining market share as some consumers trade down to cheaper brands. Over at Anheuser-Busch, Natural Light and Busch Light are also way up. It’s a sign of the times.