In a meeting with economic advisers on Monday, President Barack Obama stated that there would indeed be more job losses in the next few months. However, he claimed that this does not mean the economy is not recovering. There is “always a lag of several months between businesses starting to make profits again and investing again and them actually rehiring again,” he asserted.
Obama also said he's confident "that having moved the economy on the right track ... there's no reason why we're not going to be able to not only create jobs, but the kind of sustainable economic growth that everybody's looking for."
The White House has highlighted several indicators of economic stabilization over the past week. Among other things, administration officials have argued that the Democrats' controversial $787 billion economic stimulus program helped stave off a depression and spark 3.5% growth in the third quarter.
On Friday, the administration released a report claiming the program helped create or saved over 640,000 jobs.
Republicans questioned the validity of the White House report, saying it exaggerated the program's effectiveness. Each new job, critics charged, cost $248,000 to create.
The Commerce Department said construction spending rose unexpectedly in October by almost 1%. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were anticipating a 0.5% decline.
