WASHINGTON (AP) — The new chairman of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers says Americans can expect to see the high unemployment rate continue for some time.
Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Austan Goolsbee said the recession that began in 2007 put the U.S. economy deep in the hole and it's going to be a long struggle to get out.
The unemployment rate is now at 9.6 percent, and Goolsbee declined to speculate what it might be at the end of the year.
But he says he doesn't think the rate will be coming down significantly anytime in the near future.
Goolsbee takes over the council's chairmanship from Christina Romer, who left the White House earlier this month to return to teaching.
Blaze editor's note:
On the ABC News program "This Week," Christiane Amanpour pressed Goolsbee about President Obama's new plan that calls for $50 billion dollars in spending on infrustructure.
The ABC News article about the interview actually spells out that she asked a "tough question" about the potential effects of the new plan on the unemployment rate:
"It obviously depends on how you do it," he said. "It could have a significant impact on trying to get investment in factories…by small businesses in buying equipment, research and development and job creation in this country.""Do you have sort of a target number?" Amanpour pressed.
"I do not want to speculate on that," Goolsbee replied. "The point of those policies, they aren't spending – they're the government giving tax cuts to businesses to invest in this country, that's what they are."
Here are videos of both the Fox News and ABC News interviews:
