Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

    WASHINGTON, April 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that the economy is starting to see glimmers of hope, but it remains under severe stress.

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) speaks next to Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke after meeting with economic leaders in Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington April 10, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    "We're starting to see progress, and if we stick with it, if we don't flinch in the face of some difficulties, then I feel absolutely convinced that we are going to get this economy back on track," Obama told reporters after meeting top economic policymakers and financial regulators at the White House.

    "What we're starting to see is glimmers of hope across the economy," he said, warning that the economy is "still under severe stress."

    "And right now we're still seeing a lot of job losses, a lot of hardship, people finding themselves in some very difficult situations," said the president.

    "We still have a lot of work to do, and over the next several weeks you'll be seeing additional actions by the administration," he added.

U.S. recession to end in second half of 2009: Survey

    BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhuanet)-- The U.S. recession will be over in September, but not the unemployment, which may continue to rise until the second half of 2010, says a survey released Friday.

    The Blue Chip Economic Indicators survey of private economists predicts a 5 percent and 1.8 percent contraction in U.S. gross domestic product for the first two quarters of the year respectively. The third quarter of 2009 brings a more hopeful prediction of 0.4 percent growth. Full story