OBAMA: 'The Economy Is Clearly Getting Stronger'

President Barack Obama made a statement on the economy from the White House on Friday afternoon where he argued the latest jobs number show the economy is continuing to recover from the financial crisis.

"The good news is the economy clearly is getting stronger things are getting better," said Obama.

Obama highlighted the fact the country has seen a "six month streak with at least 200,000 new jobs each month."

"That's the first time that's happened since 1997," he said.

Obama described this as part of "the longest streak of private sector job creation in our history."

"The good news is the economy clearly is getting stronger, things are getting better," said the president.

Obama went on to criticize Republcians in Congress for blocking measures he said would do more to improve the economy including finding a long-term solution to provide federal funding for infrastructure projects and raising the minimum wage.

"Unfortunately there are a series of steps that we could be taking to maintain momentum and perhaps seven accelerate it," said Obama. "So far, at least in Congress, we have not seen them willing or able to take those steps."

The president is continuing to speak as of this writing and this post is being updated.