President Bush's Weekly Radio Address for August 2, 2003

In President Bush's weekly radio address to the nation this past weekend, he spoke mainly of how the economy is behaving, and commented specifically about job-creation and unemployment, among other things. I've included some exerpts from his address below, but you may want to read the entire text yourself:

This week, we received some encouraging news on the economy. The nation's economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter.

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Yet this week's employment report also shows that many Americans who want to work are still having trouble finding a job. My administration is acting to promote faster growth to encourage the creation of new jobs. The key to job growth is higher demand for goods and services. With higher demand, businesses are more likely to hire new employees.

The best way to promote growth and job creation is to leave more money in the pockets of households and small businesses, instead of taxing it away. So we lowered income tax rates, cut taxes on dividends and capital gains, reduced the marriage penalty and increased the child tax credit. This week, the checks for up to $400 per child started arriving in the mailboxes of American families. That money will help American families move the economy forward.

We have also taken action to help small businesses, who are the job creators of America. We increased tax incentives for equipment purchases, giving small businesses an additional reason to invest. More orders for machinery and equipment means more jobs. And more business investment can lead to greater worker productivity, which helps raise worker wages.

We are starting to see results from our actions. My administration's economists believe that if we had not passed tax relief, our unemployment rate would have been nearly one percentage point higher, and as many as 1.5 million Americans would not have the jobs they have today.

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America's economy has challenges, and I will not be satisfied until every American looking for work can find a job. By steady, persistent action, we are preparing the way for vigorous growth and more jobs. I have confidence in our economic future, because I have confidence in the people whose effort and creativity make this economy run -- the workers and the entrepreneurs of America.