President Obama addresses the state of the economy - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

President Barack Obama addressed the state of the economy, including remarks on the debt crisis in Europe that's become a drag on the U.S., in remarks at the White House Friday.

"One concern is Europe, which faces a threat of a new recession as countries deal with a financial crisi. Obviously this matters to us because Europe is our largest economic trading partner. If there's less demand for a product in places like Paris and Madrid, it could mean less business for manufacturers in places like Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. The good news is there is a path out of this challenge. These decisions are fundamentally in hands of Europe's leaders and fortunately they understand seriousness of the situation and the urgent need to act."

The president called on Congress to pass proposals that he says would put construction workers, teachers and first responders back to work.

"Last September, I sent congress a detailed job plan full of the kind of bipartisan ideas that would've put more Americans back to work. It had broad support from the American people, it was fully paid for. If congress had passed it in full, we would be on track to have a million more Americans working this year, the unemployment rate would be lower and our economy would stronger. Of course congress refused to pass this jobs plan in full."

Obama's statement at 9:15 CT in the White House briefing room came amid a rough patch for the president and his re-election campaign.

The bleak jobs report out last week showed the economy added just 69,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.2 percent. The dismal jobs numbers weakened Obama's re-election prospects in a race expected to hinge largely on the economy.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)