US economy on road to recovery: White House

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Arun Kumar | 18 Feb, 2012
The United States economy is on the road to recovery with stronger job growth expected this year, but income inequality and Europe's debt crisis could still pose challenges, according to a White House report.

"While actions taken to prevent a deeper recession and to strengthen the recovery have made a difference, the nation is still recovering from that profound crisis and the problems that led to it," said the report released by President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.

The 446-page Economic Report of the President, which outlines a plan to "recover, rebalance and rebuild", focuses heavily on income inequality, and building an America where "everyone gets a fair shot."

One way to do that is job creation. While 1.8 million jobs were created last year, the economy still needs to add about 5.6 million jobs to get back to 2008 employment levels-and that's without accounting for population growth.

The report calls attention to a "manufacturing revival," along with a rise in
exports."

One major challenge the White House points to is Europe's debt crisis. Europe buys about a fifth of US goods that are exported and about 40per cent of US service exports.

"Global and US economic performance will depend, in part, on the swift resolution of problems in the euro area," the report said.

The report comes just hours after Congress passed a bipartisan bill extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits.

"The payroll tax cut provides some cushion for families in case they see their costs go up, possibly because of gasoline prices or for other reasons over the course of the year," said Alan Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.