US: US economy has 'pulled back from the edge': White House
Sat Aug 8 05:11:01 EST 2009
WASHINGTON, Aug 7 AFP - The White House has hailed news that US unemployment fell to 9.4 per cent in July as evidence that the economy has been pulled from the brink of depression.
But President Barack Obama still believes unemployment will top 10 per cent this year, his spokesman said on Friday, bemoaning the plight of legions of Americans who have lost their jobs.
"I think it is more evidence that we pulled back from the edge and away from the brink of a depression," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.
"The pace of job loss is declining and that is positive," Gibbs said. "None of us loses sight though that last month a quarter of a million people lost their job."
"The long-term unemployment rate is increasing," Gibbs said. Asked whether Obama still saw the jobless rate hitting 10 per cent this year, he said "yes."
