The American economy is recovering in the aftermath of the worst recession, a top US official has said, but acknowledged that the country's infrastructure sector is in "crying" need of further investment.
"We believe that the economy is continuing to recover and continuing to strengthen in the aftermath of the worst recession since the Great Depression. Indicators demonstrate that the recovery is continuing," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.
He said the news on housing is particularly welcome given the blow to the housing market that was caused by the financial crisis and the implosion of the housing bubble.
Carney, however, pointed out much more still needs to be done by the country on the economic front.
"There are still too many people who are looking for work who have not found work. There are still too many huge, unfilled, unmet needs when it comes to rebuilding our infrastructure," he said.
It is essential the Democrats and Republicans come together to take action on these economic items that have generally enjoyed bipartisan support and that would provide the kind of direct infusion into the economy and job creation, the long-term benefits of infrastructure development, he said.
"We see too many instances that demonstrate anecdotally the fact that our infrastructure is in crying need of further investment. We need to take steps to further invest in education in this country, again, for the long-term economic future," Carney said.
"We need to take steps to ensure that we are investing in areas of the economy that will produce the jobs of the future so that we are, even as we become more energy independent, we are not trading one form of importation of energy for another.
"We need to make sure that we're creating the kinds of energy, 21st century energy, here in the US, with jobs in the US that will help us become more energy independent in the future," Carney said.
He said while the economy is recovering and doing better, the scenario could have been better if "we were not engaged in the process of inflicting wounds unnecessarily on the economy."
"That is what Washington all too often tends to do. And the embrace of the sequester is a perfect example of inflicting unnecessarily a wound to the economy when we should be reducing our deficit in a responsible and balanced way, and we should be investing in our economy that helps it grow even faster and create jobs at an even greater pace than we've experienced thus far," Carney said.
