Obama: 'The private sector is doing fine'

President Obama told reporters that “the private sector is doing fine,” as he attributed the high unemployment rate to a lack of government jobs.

“Overall, the private sector has been doing a good job creating jobs,” Obama told reporters this morning. “The big challenge we have in our economy right now is state and local government hiring has been going in the wrong direction,” he explained, citing for Congress to avert the layoffs of police, firefighters, and other public employees that have taken place at the state level.