Washington - US presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain campaigned across Pennsylvania on Tuesday and continued battling for the public's confidence to nurse a sagging US economy back to health.

McCain vowed he would "fool the pundits" and capture Pennsylvania in next week's general election, as polls showed the Republican candidate trailing his Democratic rival Obama by more than 10 percentage points in the key swing state.

McCain continued hammering Obama for plans to raise taxes on high- income earners, promised to reform Washington and further sharpened his attacks on President George W Bush, a fellow Republican.

"We can't spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight, hoping for our luck to change at home and abroad," McCain said at a rally with running mate Sarah Palin in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

"We need a new direction and we have to fight for it," he said.

Obama said the November 4 election would offer voters a chance to "turn the page" on the Bush administration and policies that have severely harmed the US economy.

"In one week, you can turn the page on policies that have put the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street before the hard work and sacrifice of folks on Main Street," Obama said in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania is one of a handful of battleground states that will decide the outcome of the US election. Both sides will be focusing all of their attention on swing states in the final week as opinion polls have given Obama a strong lead nationally over McCain.

The frenzied campaigning comes amid fresh indications that the United States is headed for a prolonged recession.

The Conference Board, a private research group, said consumer confidence fell to an all-time low in October, while housing prices in the 20 largest cities dropped by the most on record over the course of this year.