U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday said that U.S. lawmakers, including himself must get to work on bettering the embattled American economy, amidst news that same day that the unemployment rate was up to 9.2 percent in June. Speaking to reporters at the White House Rose Garden, Obama said that though discussions between the administration and lawmakers have in recent days been dominated with how to best resolve financial issues such as deficit reduction, "today's job report confirms what most Americans already know: We still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do to give people the security and opportunity that they deserve." The U.S. has "added more than 2 million new private-sector jobs over the past 16 months, but the recession cost us more than 8 million, and that means that we still have a big hole to fill. Each new job that was created last month is good news for the people who are back at work, and for the families that they take care of and for the communities that they're a part of. But our economy as a whole just isn't producing nearly enough jobs for everybody who's looking." "The economic challenges that we face weren't created overnight, and they're not going to be solved overnight. But the American people expect us to act on every single good idea that's out there. I read letter after letter from folks hit hard by this economy...They feel that leaders on Wall Street and in Washington-and believe me, no party is exempt-have let them down, and they wonder if their efforts will ever be reciprocated by their leaders," Obama said. The U.S. president said that lawmakers can help alleviate some of the financial burdens by bolstering infrastructure rebuilding, creating an environment where entrepreneurs can thrive, passing key trade agreements, as well as passing a tax cut for Middle Class families.
