The Bush administration's tax rebates won't prevent the U.S. economy from stagnating in the second quarter as soaring food and fuel bills hurt consumers, a Bloomberg News survey showed.

"Consumers have gone into the bunkers," said Ken Goldstein, an economist at the Conference Board, the New York- based research group that tracks confidence. They "fear that their budgets are getting squeezed tighter and tighter."

The economy will grow at a 0.1 percent annual rate from April to June, the least since the 2001 recession, according to the median estimate of 54 economists surveyed from May 2 to May 8. Household spending may rise at a 0. ... Read full article