Obama meets economic team, facing more bad numbers

President-elect Barack Obama, vowing to hit the ground running when he takes office Jan. 20, is amping up his huddles with key advisers.

Monday, he met privately with his national security team. Today, he's gathering his economic team -- as more worrying numbers come over the transom.

Consumer prices fell by 1.7 percent last month -- the steepest drop in 61 years -- raising the specter of deflation, the Labor Department reported. And the Commerce Department said that the number of new homes plummeted in November by the largest amount in almost a quarter-century, falling to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625,000.

Those at the meeting include Vice President-elect Biden, Secretary of Treasury designee Timothy Geithner, National Economic Council Director designee Lawrence Summers, Office of Management and Budget designee Peter Orszag, Council of Economic Advisers Chair designee Christina Romer, Domestic Policy Council Director designee Melody Barnes, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner, Chief Economist and Economic Policy Advisor to the Vice-President designee Jared Bernstein, President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board Chair Paul Volcker, Economic Recovery Advisory Board staff director Austan Goolsbee, and White House Chief of Staff designee Rahm Emanuel.

Asked in a news conference about the Federal Reserve's decision to further cut interest rates, Obama said, "We are running out of the traditional ammunition to use in a recession," making it more important to enact a significant economic recovery plan soon after he takes office.