On the recordApril 12, 2010
We are starting to come out of the worst recession since the Great Depression. A little more than a year ago, in the fourth quarter of 2008, the economy declined at an annual rate of more than 5 percent. A year later, in the fourth quarter of 2009, the gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of nearly 6 percent. Last month, manufacturing activity increased at the fastest rate in 5 years. Last month, the service sector expanded at the fastest rate in more than 2 years. And last month, the economy added 162,000 jobs. The economy has taken its first steps toward recovery. The economists say that part of the reason why the economy is starting to come back is what we did here. One of the first things that President Obama did in office was to press for bold action to prevent another Great Depression. And one of the first bills that Congress enacted in the new administration was the Recovery Act. The economists say that it's working. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that in the fourth quarter of 2009, the Recovery Act increased the number of full-time-equivalent jobs by between 1.4 million and 3 million. And CBO also estimates that real gross domestic product was 1 percent to 3 percent higher in the fourth quarter than it would have been without the Recovery Act. So there are some encouraging signs. But we still face major challenges in the economy. There is still work to do creating jobs.
