Buoyed by a new jobs report that showed unemployment slowing, U.S. President Barack Obama nonetheless used his radio address Saturday to pledge a new and aggressive effort to spur more job growth in the new year. "For those who were laid off last month and the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession, a good trend isn"t good enough," Obama said in the radio address. "Trends don"t buy the groceries. Trends don"t pay the rent or college tuition." Obama pledged to err on the side of job creation, promising to unveil new government efforts on Tuesday, when he gives a speech on the economy at the Brookings Institution. "In the coming days, I"ll be unveiling additional ideas aimed at accelerating job growth and hiring as we emerge from this economic storm," he vowed. Obama made clear in his radio address that he would not let the short term need to fuel job growth come at the expense of his already ambitious long term agenda to reform health care and reshape other parts of the government. "I"m not going to let up in my efforts to reform our health-care system; to give our children the best education in the world; to promote the jobs of tomorrow and energy independence by investing in a clean energy economy; and to deal with the mounting federal debt," he said. "I didn"t run for President simply to manage the crisis of the moment, while kicking our most pressing problems down the road," he said. "I ran for President to help hardworking families succeed and to stand up for the embattled middle class." --SPA
