US leaders should be open to the possibility of a second stimulus package to jolt the economy out of a recession still causing job losses, House of Representatives Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said last night.
But in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid was more sceptical of the need for more stimulus spending - an idea that rattled markets fearful that the economy is far from well and corporate earnings could suffer.
Mr Reid said he saw no evidence another stimulus was needed, saying the “shoots” of economic recovery “are now appearing above the ground.”
President Barack Obama led the charge for a two-year $787 billion stimulus package that his fellow Democrats who control Congress pushed through the House and Senate in February and he has argued it would help create or save up to 4 million jobs.
Despite continued large job losses, both Reid and Hoyer - who spoke at separate news conferences - said not enough time had passed since first package was approved for it to have the full impact on the US economy, which has been in a recession since December 2007.
“It's certainly too early right now ... to say it's not working," Hoyer said of the initial stimulus package. "In fact we believe it is working. We believe there are a lot of people who otherwise would have been laid off, lost their jobs, who haven't done that.”
The rate of job losses was slowing, but “it's not where it ought to be,” he added. Some areas of the economy were still in trouble, he said, “housing being the leading sector.”
“I think we need to be open to whether we need additional action,” Hoyer said. Last month employers shed some 467,000 jobs, which sent the unemployment rate up to 9.5 per cent, the highest in nearly 26 years.
However, the jobs outlook is expected to get worse in coming months, with Obama and many economists predicting it will surge past 10 per cent.
In the Senate, Mr Reid said only a little over 10 per cent of the initial stimulus money had been spent so far. The rest, he said, is "going to move more quickly now.
“As far as I am concerned there is no showing to me that another stimulus is needed,” Mr Reid told reporters.
Reuters