US lawmakers get a chance today to question Mr Alan Greenspan on the significance of a June slowdown.
Economists expect the Federal Reserve chief to pin the blame on a summer lull and to stress that all is well with the economy
Mr Greenspan will deliver the first leg of his two-day semi-annual monetary policy testimony to the Senate Banking Committee this evening, where he is expected to say the recovery is solid and that gradual interest-rate rises will keep the expansion healthy and lasting.
The US central bank already has begun dismantling the exceptionally stimulative policy it initiated in 2001 - a policy that took its official federal funds rate down in 13 stages to a 1958 low of one per cent by June 2003.
At its last meeting on June 29-30th, the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee raised rates for the first time in four years, by a quarter percentage point to 1.25 percent, in what was seen as the first of several "measured" hikes.
With the November presidential election campaign in full swing, Democrats and Republicans will try and draw Mr Greenspan into the debate over whether the recovery is too slow to rebuild the labour market or is responding nicely to Mr Bush administration tax cuts.
The economy clearly lost momentum in June - retail sales fell, industrial production slipped and job creation came in below forecasts - but there were early signs of improvement in July and policymakers are confident the elements of lasting expansion are intact.