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WASHINGTON (dpa) - President Barack Obama warned Monday that boosting exports was critical to reversing job losses in the United States as the country begins to recover from a deep recession.
Consumer demand will remain lower than before the recession, while businesses have used the downturn to find ways of producing the same amount of goods with fewer people. Obama said increasing export opportunities is a key part of getting U.S. firms to hire again.
"Having brought the economy back from the brink, the question is how are we going to make sure that people are getting back to work and able to support their families," Obama said during a meeting with his top economic advisors and business leaders, which was streamed live on the White House website.
Government figures last week showed the US economy grew at an annualized 3.5 per cent in the third quarter - the first quarter of growth in a year - but unemployment sits at 9.8 per cent and is still rising.
Obama said key to boosting exports was an "aggressive" but fair trade policy as well as increasing incentives for renewable energy production in the United States.
"It's not going to happen overnight, but we will not rest until we are succeeding in generating the jobs that this economy needs," Obama said.