WASHINGTON - U.S. President George Bush says the United States is not in a recession, but concedes that the world’s largest economy is in a “slowdown.”

Mr. Bush spoke after meetings with Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon and Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper Tuesday in New Orleans.

The president said he is concerned about record-high prices for crude oil and gasoline hurting consumers.  He repeated his call to drill for oil in an Alaskan wildlife refuge to boost U.S. oil supplies.

Mr. Bush’s remarks came after crude oil hit a new record high price above $119 a barrel and the U.S. dollar hit a record low against the euro.  The euro rose above $1.60 after reports that European officials might raise interest rates, and new data showing the U.S. housing market getting worse.

Oil is priced in dollars, so the falling value of the currency also helped boost the price of oil.

One factor behind the dollar’s drop was a new report today showing U.S. home sales and prices declining in the United States again last month.

A business group, the National Association of Realtors, said sales of previously owned homes dropped two percent in February, while the average sales price fell seven-point-seven percent from the same time last year.

Banks are foreclosing on a growing number of homes as their owners default on mortgage loans.  The banks are trying to sell these homes, but the glowing glut of foreclosed properties hurts prices for real estate.

Source:  VOA News