Locke imprecise on 2nd stimulus: spokesman

Locke, in an interview with Bloomberg Television, said: “If there is to be another stimulus — and that being hotly discussed and very seriously considered within the administration as well as members of Congress — it needs to be very targeted, very specific and we need to be very mindful of the deficit as well.”

Kevin Griffis, a Commerce Department spokesman, said in a telephone interview after Locke spoke that the secretary was referring to “all the different job-creating measures being considered” by lawmakers rather than a single stimulus measure.

Obama signed into law a US$787 billion economic stimulus package in February in response to the nation worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The U.S. economy lost more than 7 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007 and the jobless rate rose to 9.8 percent in September.

White House officials have said the first stimulus package should be given more time to work before debating a second round.

Half of the current stimulus “is still working its way through the system by design,” Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in an interview with NBC “Meet the Press” Sunday. “I don think we need to make that judgment yet,” about whether a second stimulus is necessary, he said.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has said other measures that may give an economic boost, such as extending a housing tax credit for first-time buyers and unemployment insurance, are being debated in Congress. Obama also proposed initiatives to help banks lend more to small businesses.

The U.S. government ended its 2009 fiscal year with a deficit of US$1.4 trillion, the biggest since 1945, the Congressional Budget Office reported on Oct. 8. Obama administration reported on Oct. 30 that the stimulus passed in February is directly responsible for saving or creating about 640,329 jobs so far.

Locke said his department will be doing its part to boost employment next year, as Commerce will be hiring more than 1 million short-term employees in March and April to work on the census.

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