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Obama urges lawmakers to pass jobs bill

Xinhua, October 9, 2011

• U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday urged the country's lawmakers to pass the American Jobs Act to shore up the economy and business hiring.

  "This is not the time for the usual games or political gridlock in Washington. The challenges facing financial markets around the world could have very real effects on our own economy at a time when it's already fragile. But this jobs bill can help guard against another downturn here in America," Obama said in his weekly address.

  He called for passage of the bill as the Democratic-led Senate will vote on the American Jobs Act next week, and pressed his Republican foes to support this bill if they could not give a better alternative solution.

  Obama stressed that independent economists believed that this jobs bill will provide a strong boost to the weak economy and job market.

  Facing a sluggish economic growth and stubbornly high unemployment rate, Obama unveiled a 447-billion-U.S.-dollar jobs plan on Sept. 8, including measures like payroll tax cuts for employers and employees as well as new investment in infrastructure projects.

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