Obama cites stimulus effect on economy

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday the U.S. economy is moving in the right direction partly because of the federal economic stimulus bill.

Speaking at a highway construction site in Virginia's Fairfax County with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Obama said workers who would have been laid off are instead finding jobs on projects such as the Fairfield County Parkway Extension, funded by the $787 billion stimulus bill.

"The fact is, as difficult as these times are -- and they're profoundly difficult for a whole lot of people all across the country -- we are moving in the right direction," Obama said. "Our economy is in better shape today than it was when I took office when we were hemorrhaging 700,000 jobs a month."

The stimulus spending, he said, "has spurred job creation and economic growth with projects like the one that I'm talking about here today."

Earlier in the day, Obama met with his national security advisers to discuss the war in Afghanistan, the White House said.

Obama met in the Situation Room with Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, Special U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrook, and the U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, among others, officials said.

The White House said McChrystal participated in the meeting by video conference from Afghanistan. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton participated while traveling through audio.

The meeting comes as McChrystal is reportedly asking for up to 40,000 more troops for Afghanistan and Obama is moving to make a decision on the future of the U.S. war effort in the country.

It was the fifth gathering of the president's war advisers to review Afghanistan policy, The New York Times reported.