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| President Barack Obama shakes hands with workers during a tour of the Fairfax County Parkway extension project in Springfield, Va. Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. |
SPRINGFIELD, Va. (AP) -- Standing at the site of a highway project funded by his massive economic stimulus plan, President Barack Obama said Wednesday he is committed to exploring all avenues to create jobs.
"Middle-class Americans are the ones who built this country," Obama said. "They deserve leaders in Washington who are willing to work as hard as they work."
Obama spoke after touring a highway construction site in the Virginia suburbs outside Washington. The Fairfax County Parkway Extension project is the state's largest stimulus-funded project. When completed, it will connect both ends of Fairfax County.
Obama first visited the project in February, when work was just beginning. He said the progress that's been made since then is just one example of the work that's being done to turn the economy around.
"We are moving in the right direction," he said.
The site is one of 8,000 road and bridge projects approved under the $787 billion economic stimulus bill Obama signed just after taking office. Construction is under way on nearly 5,000 of those projects. Obama said many are coming in 10 to 20 percent under budget, which will allow the government to invest in more projects.
Despite the stimulus, the national unemployment rate stands at 9.8 percent. Economists have said unemployment could continue to rise.
