U.S. President Barack Obama's top economic adviser said on Monday the United States is on the path toward economic recovery, conditions in financial markets are steadier and there have been initial signs of stabilization in the housing market, Reuters reported. "Thanks largely to the Recovery Act, alongside an aggressive financial stabilization plan and a program to keep responsible homeowners in their homes, we have walked a substantial distance back from the economic abyss and are on the path toward economic recovery," Larry Summers said in a letter to be sent to Republican House Leader John Boehner that amounted to a defense of the Democratic Obama administration's policies on the economy. Obama is facing rising clamor to take new steps to lift the economy and jump-start job growth, as U.S. unemployment edges toward 10 percent and the country faces soaring budget deficits. The bleak jobs picture could put some of Obama's Democratic allies at risk in next year's congressional elections, unless voters are convinced they are doing all they can to help the economy. "Most importantly, we have seen a substantial change in the trend of job loss," Summers said in the letter, which the White House said was written in response to a letter from Boehner to Obama, which it did not release. The U.S. economy lost jobs at a monthly average rate of 256,000 in the third quarter of 2009, which Summers termed "unacceptably high." But he noted it was nearly a third of the pace of job losses of two quarters ago.
