国际英语新闻：Obama says jobless number sobering but sees progress

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that latest job loss data was "sobering," but he noted that there have been "somewhat encouraging" improvements in the economy.

    "While it's somewhat encouraging that this number is lower than it's been in each of the past six months, it is still a sobering toll," said Obama after the government reported that the jobless rate climbed to 8.9 percent in April, the highest since late 1983.

    "It underscores the point that we're still in the midst of a recession that was years in the making and will be months or even years in the unmaking, and we should expect further job losses in the months to come," said Obama at the White House.

    But he also noted that there have been some signs that the economy is stabilizing.

    "Although we have a long way to go before we can put this recession behind us, the gears of our economic engine do appear to slowly -- to be slowly turning once again," said the president.

    "Consumer spending and home sales are stabilizing, construction spending is up for the first time in six months," he said. "So, step by step, we're beginning to make progress."

U.S.President Barack Obama listens as Maureen Pike tells her job training story at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, May 8, 2009. Obama announces the new steps as "to give people across America who have lost their jobs the chance to go back to school today to get retrained for the jobs and industries of tomorrow

Obama announced a plan to help jobless people pursue education and training without losing their unemployment benefits.

    The 787-billion-U.S.-dollar stimulus package Obama signed into law in February gave states billions of dollars to provide 26 extra weeks of benefits for the unemployed who want job training.

    But the law kept in place a rule that forced people to give up their unemployment check if they stopped looking for work and decided to go back to school.

    Under the new plan announced on Friday, the Labor Department will encourage states to update rules during economic downturns so the unemployed can enroll in community colleges and other education or training programs without giving up their benefits.

    "Our unemployment insurance system should no longer be a safety net, but a steppingstone to a new future," said Obama.

    "It should offer folks educational opportunities they wouldn't otherwise have, giving them the measurable and differentiated skills they need to just -- not just get through hard times, but to get ahead when the economy comes back," he added.