Obama hails auto bailout as good news in Michigan

DETROIT (AP) — President Barack Obama says his administration’s bailout out of U.S. car companies saved more than 1 million jobs and kept communities that depend on the auto industry afloat.

Speaking at a Chrysler plant in Detroit that recently hired more than 1,000 people, Obama said progress in the auto industry is one of the bright spots in the nation’s economic recovery. He says that while the auto bailout may not have been popular, the recent growth of car companies is proving critics wrong.

Obama was to make a second stop at a General Motors plant in Hamtramck, Mich., later Friday.

The president’s trip comes as new economic reports show that the recovery lost momentum in the spring as growth slowed to a 2.4 percent pace, too weak to drive down unemployment.

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