Treasury's Snow:Job Data Shows Improvement
Friday December 5, 9:56 am ET
ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow on Friday said the latest employment report showing a slight slip in the nation's jobless rate was further evidence the U.S. labor market was gaining a firmer footing.
"I thought we'd see some drop in the unemployment rate, given the good economic news -- the strong growth we're seeing in GDP, the fact that manufacturing is coming back, factory orders are coming back," Snow said in an interview on radio station KMOX in St. Louis.
"All of that is consistent with (an) improving tone in the labor markets," he said.
The Labor Department reported earlier Friday that the U.S. unemployment rate dipped to 5.9 percent in November and non-farm payrolls grew by a less-than-expected 57,000.
Snow is on a one-day trip to St. Louis, focusing on the construction industry with plans to meet with building contractors later in the day.
In the interview, Snow defended President Bush's decision announced Thursday to drop tariffs on imported steel.
"It wasn't really a change in policy," Snow said, saying that the protective measures had run their course. "The tariffs worked. The industry is now in a much better position."
Snow also said the Bush administration planned to hold the line on government spending in its next budget to be submitted early next year, and that faster economic growth would boost federal receipts.
"Those higher growth rates will produce more governmental revenues but we also have to be tight on spending, and the president is going to do that," he said.
The annual budget shortfall in the 2003 budget year hit a record $374.25 billion. |
