Obama takes US economic bright spell on the road

Riding high on a stronger economy, President Barack Obama is setting out on a US tour to highlight the improved numbers, with hopes that his approval rating follows suit.
A newly elected Congress led by Obama's Republican opponents and forthcoming 2016 elections mean a combative year lies ahead where hot-button topics such as energy and health care are concerned.
But on the economic front, things are on the up and up, and Obama isn't afraid to say so.
"Pick any metric that you want -- America's resurgence is real. We are better off," Obama said at a year-end press conference, before leaving for vacation in Hawaii.

Amid a recession in Japan and a near-stall in the eurozone, the world's largest economy is posting healthy results.
US growth surged to its highest level in 11 years in the third quarter with a five-percent increase in the gross domestic product (GDP) between July and September, the Commerce Department said at the end of 2014.

Unemployment is below the six per cent mark and consumer confidence is at its highest level in nearly seven years.
It is against this backdrop that Obama embarks today on a series of stops in a ramp-up to his January 20 State of the Union address, in which the president sets forth his priorities for the coming year.

The president will deliver remarks today at a Ford assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, where he plans to highlight the "resurgent" US automotive and manufacturing sectors.