Obama Says U.S. Economy Growing ‘Way Too Slowly’

Photo credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

CANNES, France — Reacting to the October jobs report, President Obama said this morning to reporters at the G-20 summit that the U.S. economy was growing “way too slowly” and that he hoped the latest job figures would compel Congress to act on portions of his American Jobs Act.

“My hope  is that the folks back home, including those in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, when they look at today’s job numbers, which were positive but indicate once again that the economy’s growing way too slow, that they think twice before they vote no again on the only proposal out there right now that independent economists say would actually make a dent in unemployment right now,” Obama said at a press conference.

Today’s report showed the economy had added 80,000 new jobs in October, and that unemployment had ticked down to 9  percent.

Asked if the country’s consistently high unemployment rate made him vulnerable in the upcoming 2012 election, Obama insisted “the least of my concerns at the moment is the politics of a year from now.

“I’m worried about putting people back to work right now, because those folks are hurting and the U.S. economy is underperforming,” he said.