It's in The Numbers: Business Is Slow

HIS ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN MAY HAVE BEEN SHOT down by the Senate, but Bill Clinton continues to stockpile figures to justify the $16.5 billion program. Lately, in fact, he's been carrying an uncomfortable surplus. The index of leading indicators plunged 1% in March, the largest drop in nearly three years; consumer spending fell 0.4% in the same month, the biggest decline in a year; factory orders were down 1.5%, another sign of a slowdown in manufacturing. Even the good economic news was tainted. A survey by the Federal Reserve concluded that the economy would grow 2.5% to 3% this year, about the same as in 1992 and not fast enough to lower the nation's 7% jobless rate.

The figures left economists underwhelmed. After a weak first quarter, some worried, the nation might slip back into a recession. Most economists, however, blamed the slowdown on the snow and rainstorms that battered the South, West and Northeast during February and March. Still, the Administration can expect more bad news, says an influential group of chief executives. In its first report card on the Clinton Administration, the Business Council predicted sluggish growth ahead due to the continuing downturn in Europe and other markets.