The US economic recovery after the recent global crisis is better than other countries, President Barack Obama said today with a latest report showing that America has seen the fastest job growth in the first half of the year, since 1999.
"Historically, financial crises take a longer time to recover from. We've done better than the vast majority of other countries over the last five years, but that drag has still meant a lot of hardship for a lot of folks," Obama said in his remarks on economy after the latest jobs report revealed that the economy added 288,000 jobs in June.
"We just got a jobs report today showing that we've now seen the fastest job growth in the United States in the first half of the year since 1999. So this is also the first time we've seen five consecutive months of job growth over 200,000 since 1999. And we've seen the quickest drop in unemployment in 30 years," he said.
"So it gives you a sense that the economy has built momentum, that we are making progress. We've now seen almost 10 million jobs created over the course of the last 52 months.
"And it should be a useful reminder to people all across the country that given where we started back in 2008, we have made enormous strides, thanks to the incredible hard work of the American people and American businesses that have been out there competing, getting smarter, getting more effective. And it's making a difference all across the country," he said.
"And so it's really important for us to understand that we could be making even stronger process, we could be growing even more jobs, we could be creating even more business opportunities for smart, talented folks like these if those of us here in Washington were focused on them, focused on you, the American people, rather than focused on politics."
Earlier Jason Furman, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said the 1.4 million jobs added in the first half of this year are the most in any first half since 1999.
"Furthermore, this is the first time since September 1999-January 2000 we have seen total job growth above 200,000 for five straight months. While today's jobs report is encouraging, many families are still struggling with long-term unemployment and wages that have been stagnant for decades," Furman said.
"The president continues to press Congress to take steps to further strengthen the economy, including passing a transportation bill to avoid jeopardising hundreds of thousands of jobs later this year.
"But he will also continue to make progress using his own authority to increase economic opportunity, support wage growth, and ensure America's workplaces are adapting to the 21st century," Furman said.
