Geithner: 'Choppy' U.S. recovery under way

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A "choppy" and "uneven" U.S. economic recovery is under way, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Sunday.

Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Geithner said encouraging economic signs are emerging, but warned a recovery "could be a little choppy, it could be uneven, and it's going to take a while."

Responding to figures released Friday that indicated the United States' gross domestic product rose by a higher-than-expected 3.5 percent in the third quarter, Geithner said it was "good news and it shows that when you act with force you can stabilize a crisis like this and start to repair the damage and bring things back.

"But," he added, "this is going to be a different recovery than the past, because Americans are going to have to save more."

Geithner said the benefits of the budding recovery aren't being felt evenly.

"For large businesses, they can now borrow again and they can raise capital again, and that's very important," he said. "But small businesses, much more dependent on banks, they still face a really tough environment on the financing side, and we need to keep working to try to open up credit to them."