WASHINGTON (AFP) — President Barack Obama painted a bleak picture Tuesday of the economy, warning unemployment will get worse, and vowed to act on climate change and health care as long-term solutions.
In a wide-ranging White House news conference, Obama also said he had no plans for a fresh stimulus package, hoping to give time to see the impact of the 787-billion-dollar economic plan approved shortly after he took office.
"We're still not at actual recovery yet. So I anticipate that this is going to be a difficult, difficult year," Obama said.
"I think it's pretty clear now that unemployment will end up going over 10 percent," he said, explaining it would take time for an economic recovery to translate into job growth.
The jobless rate in the world's largest economy surged to 9.4 percent in May, with the figure shooting to a record high 11.5 percent in the most populous state of California.
"What's incredible to me is how resilient the American people have been and how they are still more optimistic than the facts alone would justify," said Obama, who has largely held onto his high popularity ratings.
Obama appealed to Americans to back plans to reform the health care system and tackle climate change, calling them critical to perking up the economy in the long term.
Obama said a bill before the House of Representatives, which would force reductions of carbon emissions blamed for global warming, would spur a new green economy vital to the country's future.
"That will lead to the development of new technologies that lead to new industries that could create millions of new jobs in America -- jobs that cannot be shipped overseas," said Obama, who has sharply reversed predecessor George W. Bush's skeptical approach on global warming.
"What I've got to do is to make sure that we're focused both on the short term -- how can we provide families immediate relief and jump-start the economy as quickly as possible -- and I've got to keep my eye on the long term," Obama said.
The US president said that by passing climate and health care reforms, "we've got a foundation for long-term economic growth."
"And we don't end up having to juice up the economy artificially through the kinds of bubble strategies that helped to get us in this situation that we're in today."
Obama called for Congress to work on legislation to bring medical care to the estimated 46 million Americans -- or 15 percent of the population -- without health insurance.
He said he reads two or three letters each day from families that risk losing their insurance or their homes as they struggle to keep up with payments.
But Obama also said he would not support legislation unless it tries to find systematic ways to bring down the skyrocketing cost of health care.
"We have a long-standing critical problem in our health-care system that is pulling down our economy. It's burdening families, it's burdening businesses, and it is the primary driver of our federal deficits," Obama said.
The US economy fell into free-fall last year as a bad debt crisis whiplashed major banks, drying up the flow of credit which is the lifeblood of the financial system.
Obama said he believed stimulus dollars meant to help Americans pay their mortgages were helping, but not quickly enough.
"I don't feel satisfied with the progress that we've made. We've got to get our Recovery Act money out faster," Obama said.
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