U.S. President Barack Obama is pledging to accelerate the pace of federal spending to create more than 600,000 jobs in the next few months.
In a statement Monday, Mr. Obama says there is a long way to go on the road to economic recovery. But he pledged to turn the economy around.
The United States is home to the world's largest economy, which is suffering its worst downturn in 50 years. The crisis has driven the unemployment rate to 9.4 percent, the highest level in 25 years.
To try to ease the downturn, the Obama administration is asking federal agencies to release billions of dollars from the $787 billion stimulus plan in the coming months.
The funds will expand health services for about 300,000 patients nationwide, and hire or maintain 5,000 law enforcement jobs. Stimulus funds also will pay for environmental cleanup work, education jobs and improvements at 90 veterans medical centers.
The Obama administration says its stimulus plan has already saved as many as 150,000 jobs. But critics say the plan is only driving the country deeper into debt. The White House has acknowledged that the employment situation is worse than it had anticipated.
Austan Goolsbee, a member of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, said Sunday that job growth likely will come after the economy starts recovering.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters. By VOA News.
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