US President George W Bush has insisted the US is not in recession but says that he remains concerned about the economy's performance.

The latest US unemployment figures - released on Friday - showed the number of people laid off last month at its highest for five years.

US employers cut 63,000 positions from their payrolls in February, Labor Department figures revealed.

Mr Bush said he hoped consumer spending would "spur job creation".

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The Labor Department figures show the effect the housing and lending crisis is having on US firms, and follows 22,000 job cuts in January.

Now Mr Bush hopes his $152bn stimulus package will give the economy momentum.

Mr Bush is clearly worried enough about the state of his country's economy to be making statements to the media about it, the BBC's Matthew Price reports from New York.

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