Obama welcomes economic growth

US Economic Growth

Between the months of July and September the US economy grew for the first time in what seems like an age.

For over a year the economy has laid stagnant, but this year's third quarter finally brought some life to the financial landscape. Official figures showed the economy grew by 3.5 percent, helped by a substantial government spending plan.

President Obama is clearly enjoying the news, having come to office during one of the worst recessions in living memory. But he remained cautious, calling it "welcome news", adding that the US was still a "long way" from recovering.

Obama also said the figures were "an affirmation that this recession is abating and [showed] the steps we've taken have made a difference, but I also know that we've got a long way to go to fully restore our economy," reports the BBC.

Good reasons to be cautious

But Obama has good reason to be cautious, as the US are currently failing in reaching their other benchmarks that measure economic progress, such as, in Obama's words, "whether we are creating jobs, whether families are able to pay their bills and whether businesses are hiring and doing well."

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner echoed Obama's sentiment by saying: "Unemployment remains unacceptably high for every person out of work, for every family facing foreclosure, for every small business facing a credit crunch, the recession remains alive and acute."

Nonetheless, similar growth trends have been occurring all over the world as economies start to feel the effects of government stimulus plans. Japan, China, Germany and France have all climbed out of recession recently.

Manufacturing and the real estate market have helped the economy to its feet, along with a hike in exports.

Official confirmation of whether the US is in or out of recession will come from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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