The U.S. economy is not facing a double-dip recession, but weak job growth is "a call to arms" for policymakers to take steps to reinvigorate the private sector, a top White House adviser said on Friday.
"This is not a double dip," Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee told Reuters Insider after the government report showed the economy created only 18,000 jobs in June. "This is a reflection and reiteration that the growth rate slowed at the beginning of this year."
"This should be a call to action," he added. "We need to take bipartisan action to help the private sector stand up and start growing, hiring and investing," Goolsbee said.
He cited steps from passing free trade agreements to securing a deal on long-term deficit reduction.
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