U.S. economy still needs further boost: Romer

[The Northerner]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy has begun to climb out of the worst downturn since the 1930 Great Depression but still needs additional steps by the federal government to stem a crisis in the job market, a senior economic adviser to President Barack Obama said on Sunday.

"What we need now is not the withdrawal of support, but further targeted actions that will help the private sector come back more strongly," Christina Romer, chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in prepared remarks for a commencement ceremony at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Text of Romer's remarks was made available in Washington.

"I worry that policymakers may take the return of growth as license to withdraw the support that has been essential to the recovery," she said.

Romer urged Congress to a pass a series of measures Obama has proposed to jump-start growth, including the establishment of a lending fund to spur credit to small businesses and providing cash-strapped cities and states with aid to help them avoid layoffs of teachers and other local employees.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100516/bs_nm/us_obama_economy_romer

[xchrom]

1. Well we will see if anything comes of it. Nt