Obama: Figures show recession slowing

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Barack Obama on Thursday called the nation's latest unemployment figures sobering, but said the economic recession is slowing.

In a Rose Garden appearance with chief executives of clean-energy companies, Obama noted the average number of job losses in the current quarter has been 400,000 a month, compared to a monthly average of 700,000 in the previous quarter.

"It took years for us to get into this mess, and it'll take more than a few months to get out," Obama said.