The White House on Thursday sharply reduced its forecast for economic growth over the next year as President Obama prepares to petition Congress to approve proposals he says will help create much-needed jobs.

Under the new forecast, the unemployment rate won’t fall below 6 percent until 2017 — two years later than the White House predicted in February, when Obama released his 2012 budget proposal. Unemployment is expected to remain at about 9 percent well into 2012, when Obama is up for re-election.

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