President George W Bush's top economic adviser is saying that is is possible that US growth will be negative for the current quarter.

Edward Lazear, Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters at the White House that the president's team has "definitely downgraded our forecast for this quarter."

His assessment tracks with most economic analysts but is the most pessimistic assessment heard out of the White House. Lazear said that the White House predicts that jobs numbers will pick up later this year. He would not discuss whether the White House is predicting that the economy will actually fall into a recession. Some economists think it already has.