President Bush says the stimulus package Congress passed this year will make a “positive contribution” to the economy.

A report out Tuesday puts consumer confidence at its lowest level in almost 16 years. Soaring gas prices and gloomy job prospects were chiefly to blame for the sinking consumer mood.

But the president said the stimulus package is just beginning to kick in. He also prodded Congress to make his first-term tax cuts permanent.

Bush spoke at a company in Mesa, Arizona, that makes electrical wiring for airplanes and other industrial uses. The event was a quick stop in between two fundraisers, including a private event for Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate.