By SPA
Washington : The White House on Friday said that they are optimistic about the U.S. economy in the upcoming year.
The White House’s comments come as the U.S. Department of Labor released a report on Friday that showed that the unemployment rate is growing to 5 percent now, which is the highest since November of 2005.
“The economy is expected to be stronger in the latter half of the year. 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,” Deputy White House Press Secretary Tony Fratto said.
U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday said that he was considering a fiscal stimulus package to help revive the struggling economy, which he unlikely finalize before the State of the Union address to Congress on January 28, 2008.
“We are listening to a lot of good ideas from different people. We’ve got out people there carefully—not only monitoring this [economic] situation—but listening to…possible remedies,” Bush said.