U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday he was pleased with December's unemployment report that indicated a 200,000 increase in job creation and an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent. “We're making progress. We're moving in the right direction. And one of the reasons for this is the tax cut for working Americans that we put in place last year,” Obama said to workers at the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). “We have made real progress. Now is not the time to stop, so I would urge Congress to make sure they stay on top of their jobs, to make sure that everybody else is able to enjoy hopefully an even more robust recovery in 2012,” Obama said. The President also urged Congress to extend a payroll tax cut through 2012 in order to maintain the momentum of economic recovery. “When Congress returns they should extend the middle class tax cut for all of this year, to make sure we keep this recovery going,” he said.
