    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [February 4, 1993]
    [Pages 43-44]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters During a Luncheon With the Vice President
    February 4, 1993

    The Economy and Job Creation

        Q. Mr. President, with productivity soaring and factory orders up,
    does this mean it's a strong recovery and you might have to adjust your
    economic plan?
        The President. Well, we haven't--it could mean that more evidence
    will come in the deficit will be smaller. But there's no--it could mean
    that we'll have more jobs, which is the real issue. But we don't see it
    yet.

    [[Page 44]]

        I think the real issue--what appears to be the case is that American
    productivity is up and that a lot of Americans are refinancing their
    homes or buying new homes because of low interest rates. But so far,
    we're not adding jobs to the economy. That's the critical thing.
        I think it means we need to take a real close look at the credit
    crunch for small business. I think it means we need to redouble our
    efforts on health care cost restraints because that's one of the things
    that's preventing small business from hiring more people. But if you
    look at the downsizing going on in a lot of these big companies, we
    still need a program which will help us to generate jobs and higher
    income jobs. And that's the focus that I had for several months now.
        I'm happy that the productivity rates picked up, and I'm glad that
    people are able to finance their homes at lower interest rates. But I'm
    still not convinced that this country is yet set on the right course in
    terms of generating the jobs. And that's the key thing: jobs.
        Q. What if the markets, which seem encouraged by your commitment to
    deficit reduction, go down if you don't live up to your promise of
    145,000 jobs?
        The President. I think they want us to have a steady, disciplined,
    downward path on the deficit. But I also would point out that sometimes
    when the markets have been up, the job market has been down. The market
    that counts is the market that affects ordinary Americans. Do they have
    jobs? Are their incomes going up? And that's why I think we have to
    increase investment for jobs and decrease the debt. And we're going to
    do our best to do both. On February 17th I'm going to----

    Note: The exchange began at 12:30 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this
    exchange.