The White House on Monday said that plummeting oil prices are “good for the U.S. economy,” implicitly arguing that the falling cost of gas outweighed the toll the development took on the stock market.
“As a general matter, the impact of falling energy prices has been good for the U.S. economy,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest, as the price of U.S. oil Monday dropped below $50 a barrel for the first time since April 2009.
The Dow plunged more than 300 points in mid-day trading Monday, primarily because of the major drop in oil prices.
Though Americans are enjoying the cheaper gas prices, the tumble in the price of oil has battered energy company stocks. Some analysts have raised concerns about the loss of jobs in oil-exporting nations, including the United States.
The White House tried to walk a fine line in cheering lower gas prices while not wanting to downplay economic concerns.
Earnest called the lower oil prices a “testament to the success” of increasing domestic oil and gas production in the United States.
But Earnest added that he was “very hesitant to draw any conclusions” about the economic consequences of the drop in energy stocks.
