WASHINGTON (AP) — Welcoming positive economic news in an election year, President Barack Obama said Friday the new monthly jobs report shows the U.S. economy is starting to rebound, even though some people are still struggling.

The Labor Department report said the economy added 200,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent, the lowest in nearly three years.

"We're moving in the right direction," Obama said. "We have made real progress. Now is not the time to stop."

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.