WASHINGTON — The president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce straddled the Democratic-Republican divide Tuesday, endorsing the GOP drive to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, yet supporting the White House on immigration and new spending to spur the economy.
In a speech at chamber headquarters, Thomas Donahue struck a cautiously optimistic tone on the economy, saying the condition of American business is improving and crediting the White House for what he said was a more favorable tone toward the private sector.
“When it comes to the nation’s economy, we begin 2011 in better shape than we found ourselves last year,” Donohue said. “The state of American business is improving.”
But Donohue predicted it will take some time to bring the unemployment rate down and noted that even under his forecast, the economy would create a modest 2.4 million to 2.6 million jobs by the end of the year, enough to drop the unemployment rate, now 9.4 percent, by only 1 percentage point.
Donohue forecast economic growth of 3.2 percent in 2011, in line with other private- and public-sector views of the recovery and an improved pace over the 2.8 percent growth projected for 2010.
