WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says "if we get things right," he's hoping to start seeing "significant improvement" in the economy starting in 2010.
Obama says 2009 is going to be a "difficult year." But after that, he says, he's hoping businesses will be able to start investing again, and that consumers will feel confident enough in the stability of their jobs that they will start making purchases.
Obama told reporters in his first prime-time news conference as president that the steps leading to an economic recovery will start with job creation, followed by a normalization of credit markets, and then a stabilization of the housing markets.
He says the "biggest measure of success" is whether the economy stops shedding jobs, and starts growing again.
