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WASHINGTON - The White House said today that the US economy was "mixed" and should strengthen later in the year once it was past the worst of the housing market slump and steep oil prices.
"The economy is expected to be stronger in the latter half of the year," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. "I think that's reflective of what private-sector forecasts are also showing as we work through this transition in housing and dealing with higher energy prices."
Government data released today showed the US economy created a scant 18,000 jobs in December, far fewer than the 70,000 that economists had forecast, and the unemployment rate jumped to 5 per cent, the highest since November 2005. For details, see .
The report fanned financial market fears that the US economy may be headed for a recession. The jobs data, along with recent reports showing a weakening manufacturing sector, have heightened market speculation that the Bush administration may step in to give the economy a boost, whether through tax cuts or other means.
White House chief economic adviser Edward Lazear said that the administration was considering a variety of measures to stimulate the economy, but preferred options that were "neutral" and not targeted to a specific sector.
"We are considering a variety of measures. We're not being complacent, we have pushed economic growth policies throughout this administration and we're not going to stop doing that now," Lazear told Bloomberg Television.
He said a meeting Bush was holding later today with top financial officials, including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, had been in the works for some time and was not a response to the weak employment report.
"That meeting has been scheduled for a couple of weeks. It's just a way to give the president some more detail on what's happening in the credit market situation," he said.
White House spokesman Fratto noted that the employment report showed continued job growth, and the unemployment rate was still low by historic standards.
"It's a mixed economy, we're seeing mixed data and we're paying close attention to it," Fratto said.
Core inflation was "remaining low," but there were higher prices in energy and health care, he said. There was slower growth domestically, but strong export growth, Fratto said.
- REUTERS
