Obama Calls GM Rescue Success

VOA Breaking News (Voice of America)
November 18, 2010 at 10:30 pm

U.S. President Barack Obama says General Motors’ rising share price shows he was right to rescue the troubled auto company.

GM fell into bankruptcy more than a year ago and needed nearly $50 billion in emergency loans to survive.

Mr. Obama said the action brought harsh criticism at the time, but saved the American auto industry and many jobs.

He spoke Thursday after the share price of the revamped General Motors rose in the first day of trading on stock exchanges. GM used bankruptcy to cut its workforce, wages and debt. GM also got rid of some poorly performing car brands and is now profitable.

The GM stock sale came on the same day some government and private reports gave a mixed picture of the U.S. economy.

A business research group says its index of leading economic indicators rose for the second month in a row, while government experts said manufacturing made strong gains in the Philadelphia area.

But the number of Americans signing up for unemployment compensation rose slightly from the week before.

Some information in this story was provided by AP and Bloomberg.