Obama touts positive jobs report

WASHINGTON -- Welcoming positive economic news in an election year, President Barack Obama said Friday the new monthly jobs report shows the U.S. economy is starting to rebound, even though some people are still struggling.

The Labor Department report said the economy added 200,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent, the lowest in nearly three years.

"We're moving in the right direction," Obama said. "We have made real progress. Now is not the time to stop."

Obama called on congressional Republicans to extend a Social Security payroll tax cut for the remainder of 2012, crediting the cut that has been in place for about a year with helping to boost the recovery.

Obama spoke during a visit to the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with the agency's newly installed director, Richard Cordray. The president used a controversial recess appointment earlier this week to circumvent Republican opposition in the Senate to put Cordray in the job.

The president pointed out consumer protections the bureau can provide, seeking to underscore benefits to voters.

"Every one of you here has a critical role to play in making sure that everybody plays by the same rules," the president told financial protection bureau employees gathered to hear him.

"That's your mission," he said. "To make sure the American people have somebody in their corner."

Later Friday, in a sort of power lunch for the not-so-powerful, Obama broke bread with four winners of a contest for people who give to his campaign in small amounts.

The suggested donation to enter the drawing: $3.

The winners, including a teacher and an Afghanistan War veteran, gathered at Scion, a restaurant serving trendy, Asian-inspired cuisine in Washington. The Obama re-election campaign has offered the meals with the president, first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden to boost online contributions.

The small media contingent that travels with the president was allowed into the restaurant briefly to capture images of Obama chatting up the supporters, mostly with small talk about his guests' children.