Economists: Energy Woes Won't Cause US Recession

ORANGE COUNTY, CA-Soaring utility bills here and in other parts along the West Coast are beginning to hurt the national economy but will not push the US into a full-blown recession, a new report by a group of top economists says.

The closely watched Blue Chip Economic Indicators’ survey of leading private-sector analysts, released yesterday, acknowledges that California’s energy crisis has combined with dot-com layoffs and other factors to leave the US economy “skating on thin ice.” But the series of interest-rate cuts made by the Federal Reserve Board earlier this year will rekindle the nation’s stagnant manufacturing segment in the second half, the survey says, while the tax-rebate checks that the Federal Government will begin mailing soon as part of President Bush’s recently approved tax-cutting plan will spur more consumer spending.