Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday the U.S. economy needed more stimulus to get it moving, putting in a plug for government intervention shortly before the White House unveils new proposals to boost job growth.

At the end of a trip to Asia, Biden said a final decision had not been made on whether Washington would sell Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan and noted Beijing knew America viewed its one-child policy as abhorrent.

Biden made political waves back in the United States when he said in a speech in China that he was not second-guessing the country's restrictions on parents having just one child.

Republican presidential candidates pounced.

After roughly ten days abroad in China, Mongolia and Japan, the vice president is likely to turn his attention to domestic policy as the White House prepares a major new initiative to boost job growth.

The United States is struggling with unemployment above 9 percent and reeling from a credit downgrade by credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's in the aftermath of a divisive political debate over deficit-cutting between Democrats and Republicans.

Reacting to a leadership switch at the top of S&P after the downgrade, Biden said his instinct was that pressure from disgruntled businesses may have influenced the change, though he made clear that he did not know the agency's internal workings.

S&P's parent McGraw-Hill Companies Inc, said on Tuesday that Deven Sharma, who has served as S&P president since 2007, will be succeeded on September 12 by Citibank Chief Operating Officer Douglas Peterson.

I don't know how they made the judgment, about the new leader, Biden said in an interview with three reporters traveling on his plane, Air Force Two, at the end of his trip.

My instinct is they got a lot of pressure from a lot of places, not the government. I think there were probably an awful lot of businesses out there going, what the hell did you guys do? You know, I mean, because it rebounded back to impacting on Wall Street and impacting on American business.

JOBS JOBS JOBS

Businesses are eager to see what President Barack Obama will unveil in a new package of measures to boost job growth and the economy.

Biden declined to reveal specifics of the plan, which is expected to be released in the coming weeks, but he said it was clear the economy could use a kick.

I think the economy does need more stimulus, Biden said, adding that it was difficult to get the 2009 package of some $830 billion in spending and tax cuts through Congress even when Democrats had majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Everybody says we should've (had)...a bigger stimulus package. Yeah, we should've. I was pushing (for) it, he said.

It never would've passed. I mean, that's how close this was. It's not like, you know, there was a lot of leftover support out there.

The White House has said Obama's new package would include measures that could get support from both political parties.

(Editing by Vicki Allen)