WASHINGTON — As President Obama prepares to
give a key annual address to the nation, he faces political problems
that have hurt his approval ratings. Experts say he may get some
political help over the next year, as a gradually improving U.S. economy
helps heal the battered housing sector and reduces unemployment.
Severe problems in the housing sector contributed to the recession that
threw millions of Americans out of work and out of their homes.
Without jobs, they could not pay mortgages, so banks evicted families
and tried to sell houses to recover the loan money. A glut of unsold
homes pushed down prices, hurting homeowners, banks, and the overall
economy.
But now the economy is growing again, and home sales are up, according
to RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist, who spoke to VOA via
Skype. "We saw a great bounceback in the housing market in 2013 in terms
of prices, home price appreciation, and sales," he said.
Blomquist said prices rose as investors bought houses, and families got
back into the market, though he expects the market to improve more
slowly this year.
The president may talk about gains in the housing market and the
improving unemployment situation in this year's State of the Union
speech.
When he took office, unemployment centers were busy and the jobless rate was headed above 10 percent.
It took years for the unemployment rate to fall to the current 6.7
percent, which still leaves more than 10 million people out of work.
Four million of them have been jobless for six months or longer, which
is worse than previous recessions.
But recent economic reports show growth, construction, manufacturing,
consumer confidence and other important measures mostly improving. They
also show the jobless rate heading down in the future.
Aparna Mathur, who researches the economy at the American Enterprise
Institute, said, "The long-term trend suggests we are heading in the
right direction. We might reach pre-recession [unemployment] levels of
five percent over the next couple of years “
Many economists say presidents usually get too much blame when the economy goes badly - and too much credit when things go well.
The chief economist for the Associated General Contractors, Ken
Simonson, said it is mostly private business, rather than the
government, that drives the economy. But he said things have gotten
better on Obama's watch. "I'm sure that he will take credit for the
sharp drop in unemployment rates that we have seen in recent months and
for the gradual, but always positive, change in jobs over the last three
and a half years."
Simonson pointed out, though, that the president's Republican rivals
certainly will be quick to offer a rebuttal -- and point out that the
jobless rate remains higher than what most Americans view as normal.
