Jobs data calls for stimulus package: Gutierrez

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said on Friday that a drop in U.S. nonfarm employment in January showed the urgency of moving quickly to put in place measures to give the economy a lift.

"We're not happy with the number and we know it creates uncertainty," Gutierrez, referring to the decrease of 17,000 jobs, said in an interview on CNBC. "It's one more reason why we need to get moving on the stimulus package."

A $146 billion package agreed by the White House and House of Representatives must win the backing of the U.S. Senate, but lawmakers there have a plans of their own that could slow the process while the politicians wrangle.

U.S. growth slackened to a 0.6 percent annualized pace in the final three months of the year and some economists fear the country is being dragged into a recession by a slumping housing market, that has sparked a global credit crunch.

Gutierrez acknowledged there was a slowdown under ay. But he insisted that it will prove short-lived, once the wounds of the housing market have healed.

"We're going to see a decline in the growth rate. We have to get through the housing correction. But the biggest number in terms of job losses has been residential construction," he said. There was a 27,000 decline in construction jobs last month, according to government data released on Friday.

"We have to get through that. It is going to take another couple of quarters. While we get through that, we need to do the stimulus. But we are going to see a reduction in the growth rate, and the growth rate will pick up again in the second half of the year," he said.