Bush: gas prices making it hard for economy to grow

President Bush demonstrates his walk down the aisle as he departs Andrews Air Force Base for his daughter's wedding ceremony this weekend at his Central Texas ranch, May 8, 2008.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Monday that while the U.S. economy is expanding, soaring gasoline prices have hampered the level of growth.

"It's just too darn bad because this economy was doing fine and then we had the housing issue and then this gasoline issue is making it even harder for the economy to recover," Bush said in a radio interview with CBS News.

"It's growing, don't get me wrong, but it could be a lot better with lower gasoline prices," he said.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky, editing by Dan Grebler)