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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (178801)	9/8/2001 5:16:42 PM
From: puborectalis	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

False hopes......U.S. Economy Showing Signs of Recovery, Treasury's O'Neill Says By Brendan Murray Suzhou, China, Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy is emerging from a slowdown that sent unemployment to a four-year high last month, reassuring Asian countries that the biggest engine of global growth won't drag the world into recession, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said. Joblessness in the U.S. rose in August to 4.9 percent, to the highest level since September 1997, the Labor Department said yesterday. O'Neill said the number is a ``lagging'' indicator and doesn't take into account ``anecdotal'' evidence he has gathered from businesses showing company orders are increasing. ``There's data that we're seeing now about improving order books and continuing liquidation of inventories that's setting the basis for the improvement we've been looking for,'' he told reporters after meetings today of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Suzhou, China. ``We're in one of those bubbling periods where there is enough data to begin to believe that we're turning around.'' On his first trip to Asia as Treasury Secretary, O'Neill sought to ease concern among APEC members that a slowdown in demand in the U.S. would hurt economies like Japan, China and Taiwan. O'Neill said the U.S. economy would likely grow more than 3 percent next year, from close to no growth in the second quarter of this year. Ready to Go ``We're ready to have the responsibility -- and the burden if you will -- of being a really unbelievably important part of the world economy,'' he said. In the U.S., ``growth is in the works.'' O'Neill's meetings today kicked off a four-day visit to China, the economy of which has done ``fabulously'' with annual growth rates close to 7 percent, the Treasury secretary said. In meetings with Chinese officials during the next three days, O'Neill said he wants to encourage China to keep opening markets to foreign competition and boosting trade, particularly through the World Trade Organization. ``We'll talk about the steps that we can take that will be beneficial to both economies in terms of openness and, in a general sense, all the things that go with the WTO,'' O'Neill said. Touching on the thorny issue of China's strained relations with Taiwan, which China considers to be a renegade province, O'Neill praised improvements in economic ties and investments between the two. `Friction' ``My sense is that while there's still a lot of conversational friction that's going on, there's a lot of economic activity between'' China and Taiwan, he said. ``The more people can work with each other and understand each other, the more likely we are to have peace and prosperity.'' China last week punished Credit Suisse First Boston for sponsoring a European tour by Taiwan government officials, dropping the investment bank from playing a role in a multi billion dollar share sale by China Unicom Ltd. O'Neill said he plans to talk with Chinese leaders about the ``importance of true openness and a sense that people don't get penalized because they are doing things around the world.'' ``You prefer to see openness and prefer not to see individuals and firms being penalized for things that most of the world would say is appropriate,'' he said. O'Neill's Asia trip will end next Friday in Japan with talks with leaders including Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa. O'Neill said neither Shiokawa nor any other APEC delegate talked today about currencies. ``The critical issue for Japan is taking action that gives the market a basis for believing in the future,'' he said.