MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Obama names labour expert as White House advisor in economics

The US president prepares to unveil a jobs package in a speech on September 5, Labour Day

US President Barack Obama announced Monday he has chosen Princeton University labour economist Alan Krueger to become the top White House economist, a White House official said.

Krueger would succeed Austan Goolsbee as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. The decision comes as Obama prepares to unveil a jobs package in a speech planned for shortly after the Sept. 5 Labour Day holiday.

With US unemployment at a stubbornly high 9.1% and amid fears the economy could slide back into recession, Obama is under pressure to show he is doing all he can to bolster growth.

Goolsbee, a long-time Obama adviser, left the administration earlier this month to return to his teaching job at the University of Chicago. The departure was a blow for the White House as Goolsbee had been a high-profile spokesman on the economy.

Krueger served in the Obama administration as a Treasury Department economist but left that job to return to Princeton last fall.

The nomination requires Senate confirmation but Krueger has an advantage because he has already served in the Obama administration.