Obama report: 95,000 jobs to come each month

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is likely to add an average of 95,900 more jobs each month this year, while personal savings will remain high as credit remains tight, according to a White House report released Thursday.

With the public souring on Obama's handling of the economy, the White House's Council of Economic Advisers' report trumpeted the $787 billion economic stimulus package as creating or saving some 2 million jobs. Facing a tough election season for fellow Democrats, Obama's team used its annual report to blame the economy they inherited. The report is required by law within 10 days of the White House's budget proposals.

Obama called on lawmakers to pass a jobs bill to help the economy recovery - and to help incumbents from both parties keep their jobs come November.

In a message to Congress, President Barack Obama looked back at the challenges and ahead to his agenda for dragging the country out of its recession.

"I can report that over the past year, this work has begun. In the coming year, this work continues," Obama said in a letter he sent to the Capitol attached to his economic update to lawmakers. "But to understand where we must go in the next year and beyond, it is important to remember where we began one year ago."

Casting its first year as positive, the administration's 462-page report served as a summary of its logic and a pitch for Obama's future agenda.