Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 8, 1993 TAG: 9302080092
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Knight-Ridder/Tribune and The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
LABOR SECRETARY EXPECTS STIMULUS
Labor Secretary Robert Reich said Sunday the U.S. jobs market is "simply dead in the water," and it "seems to me likely that there will be a stimulus package."Interviewed on CBS-TV's "Face the Nation" Sunday, Reich said although the United States is in a "technical recovery," there were two false recovery attempts before this.
"I think some sort of a stimulus package is necessary," Reich said, but insisted no decision has been made definitely about pursuing a fiscal stimulus, nor on the amount of any package.
Reich said Friday's news of a drop in the U.S. jobless rate in January to 7.1 percent from 7.3 percent in December was not a sign of significant progress. He noted that a 7.1 percent rate was "exactly where we were a year ago," and that a fall in the number of people seeking work, rather than more job creation, may have caused the rate to fall.
"We really are not making any progress at all on the jobs front," he said.
His assessment was echoed by Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, interviewed on NBC-TV's "Meet the Press."
"Unemployment isn't down enough," Brown said. "There are still layoffs, plant closings. That is why a modest stimulus package is still in order." None of the U.S. officials speaking on Sunday TV shows would estimate the size of the package, although some hinted that news reports of a package around $30 billion was realistic.
On revenue issues, Reich said he anticipated that a tax increase for top revenue earners would be part of any budget deficit cutting package, but "everybody is going to have to sacrifice a little bit."
Vice President Al Gore criticized the idea of a higher gasoline tax Sunday, and said the administration would announce this week some cuts in "wasteful" government spending.
Interviewed Sunday on ABC-TV's "This Week with David Brinkley," Gore said raising revenue with a higher gasoline tax has "never been high on the list of any options, because it gets at a very narrow slice of the marketplace and it hits different regions unfairly."
Four key Senate Republicans challenged Clinton's plan for new spending and tax breaks, arguing Sunday that a recovery is well under way and that the plan will only make the deficit worse.
The senators - Minority Leader Robert Dole of Kansas, Peter Domenici of New Mexico, Bob Packwood of Oregon and Don Nickles of Oklahoma - applauded the goal of deficit reduction, but said "spending is the problem."