Perhaps chagrined after presenting too optimistic of an economic report last year, yesterday the White House offered a more sober, but still optimistic look ahead. The administration is predicting that this year's average job growth will hit 95,000 new positions a month--though other economists are expecting a rate closer to 250,000 per month--but unemployment will remain high until 2012, when they predict it will drop to 8.2%.

The annual economic announcement coincides with efforts by President Obama to pass a job-creation bill offering small businesses tax cuts and investments in clean energy and infrastructure initiatives over $50 billion, which would lead to new hirings.

The really, super awesome news, however, doesn't arrive until 2016--six short years away!--when the White House economists predict unemployment will be down to 5.5%, or almost half of what it is today. If that comes to pass, President Obama might be able to pull a Bloomberg and go for a third term.

[Via The Christian Science Monitor]

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcjohn/ / CC BY 2.0