Bush Says Stimulus Helping Economy Start to `Improve'

By Holly Rosenkrantz and Nadine Elsibai

Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said the U.S. economy is ``beginning to improve,'' and he credited the $168 billion stimulus this year with helping to ward off a recession.

Bush, in his weekly radio address today, cited several economic indicators that he said show signs of improvement: the decline in home sales has leveled off and sales are rising in some parts of the country. Orders for some durable goods are increasing, and the economy grew at an annual rate of 3.3 percent in the second quarter, he added.

``There are signs that the stimulus package will continue to have a beneficial impact on the economy in the second half of the year,'' Bush said.

Bush's comments drew criticism from the campaign of Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama, who has sought to make the economy a central focus of the election and has tied his presumptive Republican opponent, Senator John McCain of Arizona, to Bush's policies.

``When it comes to being out of touch with what middle- class Americans are going through, George Bush and John McCain are two of a kind,'' Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats in Congress have endorsed a plan for an additional $50 billion in economic stimulus from the government to help overcome the effects of the biggest housing slump since the Great Depression and near-record gasoline prices. Bush's top economic adviser, Edward Lazear, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television this week that the economy doesn't need it.

Domestic Drilling

Instead, Bush pressed Congress in his radio address to focus on increasing domestic oil and natural gas exploration, passing free-trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, and making his tax cuts permanent. Lawmakers return to Washington from a summer recess the week of Sept. 8.

Bush said the ``election season'' may make it challenging for Congress to focus on the legislative agenda.

``We still have time to accomplish important goals for our country,'' he said.

Burton cited seven months of job losses, declining weekly wages and home values and rising inflation as evidence that Americans are worse off under President Bush.

A Commerce Department report yesterday showed that personal spending growth slowed to 0.2 percent in July from 0.6 percent in June, underscoring economists' forecasts for a weaker economy in the second half of the year.

Adjusted for inflation, personal spending dropped 0.4 percent, the biggest drop in four years. The report showed that the department's gauge of consumer prices tied to spending patterns rose 4.5 percent from a year earlier in July, the biggest gain in 17 years.

Incomes Decline

Incomes dropped 0.7 percent, the first decrease since August 2005, reflecting the end of the tax rebates, after a 0.1 percent gain the prior month, the report showed.

Economic growth will slow to an annual pace of 1.2 percent in the third quarter and 0.45 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the median forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of 78 economists.

Senator Hillary Clinton, giving the Democratic radio address today, said McCain would continue Bush administration policies that she described as failures.

``With Barack Obama in the White House and Democrats leading in Congress, we will lead the charge to revitalize the economy, create jobs, make college affordable again, and enable hard-working Americans to pay for gas, food, utilities and cover the monthly bills,'' Clinton said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net; Nadine Elsibai in Washington at nelsibai@bloomberg.net