Obama: Economy Has 'Stepped Away From The Precipice'
Commenting in the wake of this morning's report about second-quarter gross domestic product, President Barack Obama told reporters at the White House this morning that the latest economic indicators signal "that we have stepped away from the precipice."
Obama made specific mention of reports that the pace of job cuts has slowed, that home prices have edged higher and that financial markets have stabilized.
The White House says Obama will have more to say about the economy at 1:15 p.m. ET.
Just two days ago, the president was saying he was shocked by a Newsweek cover that declares "the recession is over."
Update at 1:40 p.m. ET. Here's the full audio of the president's remarks this afternoon:
Update at 1:29 p.m. ET: The president just added that he is "guardedly optimistic about the direction our economy is going ... but we've got a lot of work left to do."
He pointed specifically to the popular "cash for clunkers" stimulus program that has quickly run out of cash -- and praised efforts in the House today to add more money to that program.
Update at 1:25 p.m. ET. Obama just said that the GDP report, which showed that the Commerce Department had revised "down" the declines in output in late '08 and earlier this year, means that:
"The recession we faced when I took office was even deeper than anyone thought at the time.