Obama pledges action after job losses

COLUMBUS: U.S. President Barack Obama and senior aides on Friday bemoaned staggering data showing the highest unemployment rate for 25 years, but vowed to redouble their work to revive the stricken economy.

Labor Department figures showed the economy shed 651,000 jobs in February alone, to send the unemployment rate soaring to 8.1 percent, revealing the grim depths of the recession and further complicating Obama's recovery effort.

The president said during a visit to the economically hard-hit state of Ohio that the latest data brought the "total number of jobs lost in the recession to an astounding 4.4 million."

But, steeling his country to fight the economic downturn, Obama said that at a "defining moment" for America, it was time to meet the moment of crisis with "bold action and big ideas."

"We have a responsibility to act, and that's what I intend to do as president of the United States of America," Obama said, at a graduation ceremony for police cadets who had their jobs saved by investment from Obama's 787-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan.

The president argued that deepening economic gloom meant that the mammoth package passed last month was more vital than ever to stimulating a recovery.

"For those who still doubt the wisdom of our recovery plan, I ask them to talk to the teachers who are still able to teach our children because we passed this plan," Obama said.

"I ask them to talk to the nurses who are still able to care for our sick, and the firefighters and first responders who will still be able to keep our communities safe."

The 8.1 percent unemployment rate for February was the highest since December 1983, raising fears that unemployment could eventually go higher than 10 percent.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said the administration was moving "swiftly and aggressively" to jumpstart job creation and get the economy back to growth.

"From the day this Administration began, we knew that solving the economic crisis we were presented with would not be easy and would not happen overnight," she said.