President Takes Bow for Economic Gains

WASHINGTON — President Clinton said Saturday that ordinary Americans are finally beginning to enjoy the benefits of an improving U.S. economy, but Republicans tried to temper his enthusiasm.

Clinton used his national weekly radio address to take some of the credit for the recovery, saying his economic policies have helped bring historic low interest rates that are giving a boost to the economy. “Ordinary Americans are finally beginning to feel the impact of this recovery, but there’s a lot more to do,” he said.

But in a Republican response, Sen. William V. Roth Jr. of Delaware said that “despite the temptation to boast about the flurry of good news these last few weeks, we must remind the President to look beyond the short term.”

“Most experts believe the modest improvement we’ve seen in the economy will begin to slow about midyear,” Roth said, pointing to figures from the Congressional Budget Office predicting the pace of economic growth will fall back under 3% in the near future.