US economy recovering: Obama

But he cautioned “we have a long way to go before we return to prosperity” and more job losses were likely in coming days.

The US unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at 9.8 per cent, despite a $787 billion economic stimulus that  Congress, pushed through in February. But good news for the Obama administration this week was new data showing the US economy growing in the third quarter for the first time in more than a year, signaling the end of the worst recession in 70 years.

“Now, economic growth is not substitute for job growth,” Obama said. “But we will not create the jobs we need unless the economy is growing.” He said a series of steps taken by his administration to jump-start the economy, including the stimulus package of spending and tax cuts, had helped “blunt the worst of this recession.”

The White House said on Friday the stimulus had saved or created more than 640,000 jobs so far, based on data about who had received loans through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Critics say the data is riddled with inconsistencies. Republicans, who favor tax cuts, say the stimulus has failed to halt rising joblessness.