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Obama unveils new job-creating plan

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-09 03:24

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a speech on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, December 8, 2009. (Agencies)

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday a new job-creating initiative on using the unspent money under a financial system bailout package to tackle the country's double-digit unemployment.

Obama said at Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, that he wants to see in the coming weeks and months, more Americans in the workplace and fewer on unemployment, which now stands at 10 percent.

Obama repeated that thanks to his administration's effort, the U.S. economy avoided successfully a second Great Depression. The overall economy changed from contraction to expansion.

"But our work is far from done. For even though we have reduced the deluge of job losses to a relative trickle, we are not yet creating jobs at a pace to help all those families who have been swept up in the flood," he said.

Obama addressed three key areas: helping small businesses add staff and grow; updating transportation infrastructure; and making homes energy-efficient.