Obama: No fears of double-dip recession

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a spate of discouraging economic reports, President Barack Obama insisted today he's not afraid of the country slipping into a double-dip recession. But at the same time he displayed some impatience that the pace of the recovery has "got to accelerate."

"Obviously, we're experiencing some headwinds," Obama said at a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He said it was unclear whether the latest unemployment report, which showed a slowdown in job growth, was a one-month episode of part of a longer trend.

Obama said his administration was taking a range of steps to boost the economy, and that the nation is on a path to long-term economic growth but he acknowledged, "we've still got a lot to do."

The economy is the overarching issue as Obama heads into a re-election campaign, and a Washington Post-ABC News poll released today found that disapproval with how Obama is handling the economy and the deficit has reached a new high.