White House: 9% Unemployment Until 2012
The White House is now projecting that unemployment will stay around 9% till 2012:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The White House said Friday it expects that unemployment will stay at or above 9% until 2012, but at the same time forecast that the economy will grow by at least 4% in 2011 and 2012.
It also revised its long-term deficit estimate under President Obama's proposed 2011 budget: The administration now believes the 10-year deficit will be $58 billion less than projected in February when the budget blueprint was first released.
Under the revised estimates, Uncle Sam will ring up $8.474 trillion in deficits between 2011 and 2020, down from the $8.532 trillion estimated in February.
In the near-term, the administration expects the 2010 deficit to come in at $1.47 trillion -- slightly lower than originally forecast and slightly above last year's deficit of $1.41 trillion. Meanwhile, the 2011 and 2012 deficits will come in somewhat higher than the White House forecast in February.
"The economy is still weaker than we'd like, and [there is] a medium-term and long-term fiscal situation that requires attention," outgoing White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said in a call with reporters.
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