Obama insists economy is 'back from the brink'

Washington: US President Barack Obama has said the country's struggling economy is on its way to recovery, but warned that the job market will be the last thing to return to normal.

In an evening press conference at the White House on Wednesday, Obama defended his own prescriptions for nursing the economy back to health and urged the US public to give his plans more time to work.

"We have been able to pull our economy back from the brink," Obama said in his opening remarks, noting that he inherited an economy mired in its worst recession in decades.

"I'll be honest with you - new hiring is always one of the last things to bounce back after a recession," he said.

While there have been signs that the US economy is improving, Obama's administration has faced growing unease as unemployment continues to rise by the hundreds of thousands. The jobless rate hit 9.5 per cent in June, its highest level in more than a quarter-century.

Obama sells healthcare reforms as central to rebuilding economy

Washington: President Barack Obama has sought to sell his proposed healthcare reform as central to rebuilding the recession hit economy though he could not guarantee it won't change how Americans get medical treatment.

In a nationally televised news conference Wednesday dominated by the healthcare issue, Obama delivered lengthy statements in response to Republican attacks on proposals he favours, saying the change is necessary and good.

Repeatedly emphasising that the spiralling costs of the current system would bankrupt the nation while denying coverage to millions more Americans, Obama said, "The whole point of this is to try to encourage what works."

Addressing concerns that reform would take away the ability of people to choose their doctors and treatment, he said, "The government is already making some of these decisions. Insurance companies are making some of these decisions."

The reform proposals he backs would have experts make decisions based on the best medical treatment, not accountants attempting to save money or doctors prescribing treatments that bring the highest fees, Obama said.

Republican opponents of Democratic bills in the House and Senate said earlier that most Americans like the current system, which they said must be made less expensive and more accessible.

Obama and Democratic leaders say the problems are deeper and systemic, and the president spent all of his seven-minute opening statement at the 52-minute news conference outlining the challenges and his proposed solutions.

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"Even as we rescue this economy from a full-blown crisis, we must rebuild it stronger than before -- and health insurance reform is central to that effort," Obama said.

He also chided opponents of his healthcare reform push for making the issue purely political.

"I've heard that one Republican strategist told his party that even though they may want to compromise, it's better politics to 'go for the kill'. Another Republican senator said that defeating health reform is about 'breaking' me," he said.

"Let me be clear, this isn't about me," Obama said, noting that he and every member of Congress -- including those trying to scuttle health care reform legislation -- "have great health insurance".