The U.S. economy is still in the midst of one of the most challenging periods in our nation’s history. We have pulled back from the brink of financial collapse and a historic recession. The overall economy grew at an annual rate of 4 percent over the last six months of 2009, but millions of Americans remain out of work and the economic pain of the recession can still be felt throughout our nation. This crisis has caused enormous damage to the basic economic security of tens of millions of Americans. This is why we have a lot of work to do together to make sure that as overall economic growth recovers, so does job growth.  We must restore confidence in the economy’s fundamental resilience, and we are taking the steps to ensure sustainable growth going forward that is more widely shared among the American people.