"Every year the president takes time in August to meet with his economic team for an in-depth discussion about the economy and how we can be sure that the administration's policies are on track to keep the economy strong and growing," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

Perino said they would discuss the macroeconomic picture and job growth, financial markets, tax policy, the budget and current and future spending on government entitlement programs.

Among those in attendance: Vice President Dick Cheney, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, National Economic Council Director Allan Hubbard and White House budget chief Rob Portman.

Cheney recently predicted that the Republicans would prevail in the midterm elections partly because the U.S. economy is "kicking along in very good shape."

Democrats, on the other hand, argue that Bush's economic plan has left wages flat and gas and health care costs high. They also blame Republicans for a failed attempt to raise the minimum wage by insisting that it be coupled with cutting taxes on multimillion-dollar estates.

"Despite the president's rosy rhetoric and campaign slogans, the American people know the Bush economy doesn't work for them, as they've endured stagnating wages, skyrocketing health care costs and record-high gas prices," said Stacie Paxton, press secretary for the Democratic National Committee.

There has been recent good news on the inflation front.

A surge in energy prices pushed the Consumer Price Index higher in July, but other prices were more restrained. That raised hopes on Wall Street that interest rates won't be rising. Also, wholesale prices were up just 0.1 percent in July and, excluding food and energy, actually fell by 0.3 percent.

Other economic reports give evidence that the economy is slowing.

The Federal Reserve reported that industrial production rose by 0.4 percent in July - just half the June gain, as manufacturing output slowed dramatically. And the
Commerce Department said new home construction dropped by 2.5 percent in July, the fifth decline in the past six months.

Northwest spokesman Roman Blahoski said some employees who received the handbook had taken issue with a couple of the items. "We agree that some of these suggestions and tips ... were a bit insensitive," Blahoski told Reuters.

The four-page booklet, "Preparing for a Financial Setback" contained suggestions such as shopping in thrift stores, taking "a date for a walk along the beach or in the woods" and not being "shy about pulling something you like out of the trash."

The booklet was part of a 150-page packet to ground workers, such as baggage handlers, whose jobs will likely be cut after their union agreed to allow the airline to outsource some of their work, Blahoski said.

Prepared with the help of an outside company, the booklet encourages employees to manage their money better and prepare for financial emergencies.

"If you have saved some money, pat yourself on the back -- you deserve it," the booklet reads. "Take out only what you need and spend prudently."

It found, as expected, that severely obese patients had a higher risk of heart-related death - but it also showed that overweight patients, as defined by their BMI scores, had better survival rates and fewer heart problems than those with a normal BMI. People with normal BMIs were, in turn, less likely to die than people with low BMIs.

The experts stressed that the findings did not suggest obesity was not a health threat, but rather that the 100-year-old BMI test was too blunt an instrument to be trusted. The better outcomes for overweight patients were most likely due to muscle, which weighs more than fat, the researchers said in the Lancet.

Dr Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, who led the study, said: "Rather than proving that obesity is harmless, our data suggest that alternative methods might be needed to better characterise individuals who truly have excess body fat, compared with those in whom BMI is raised because of preserved muscle mass."

BMI, invented by the Belgian statistician and sociologist Adolphe Quetelet in 1869, is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by their height in metres squared.

It is relied upon in clinical trials designed to assess the health risks associated with weight. Someone with a BMI of less than 18.5 is considered underweight; between 18.5 and 24.9 lies within the "normal" range; and 25 to 29.9 is classified as "overweight". Clinical obesity is defined by a BMI of 30 or greater.

Many experts now say waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio, which indicate levels of abdominal fat, are better guides.

"There is a very real threat to users of MySpace, and in fact we have already seen several MySpace specific viruses emerge," Graham Cluley of computer security company Sophos told the Standard Lite newspaper.

The site is hugely popular, especially with teenagers, and it has recorded growing numbers of users in recent months, now accounting for 4.5 per cent of all internet traffic.

However, its popularity has also led to it becoming a target for scams.

Mr Cluley believes the current virus can be blamed on the site's teenage appeal.

"The problem is that people tend to let their guard down because they think the site is safe. But even a picture of a fluffy bunny rabbit on the site can contain a hidden piece of software that could harm your machine," he said.

"We've also seen pages that contain code to automatically spread viruses through MySpace's buddy system, which lets you add friends to your profile."