WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is drawing attention to the auto industry’s rebound, visiting a Chrysler plant in politically important Ohio as he seeks to highlight a rare bright spot in the sluggish economic recovery.
Obama was traveling to Toledo on Friday, the latest in a string of domestic trips to promote his economic agenda. The president planned to speak to plant workers and local business owners about the significance of the industry’s turnaround.
The Bush and Obama administrations spent $80 billion to bail out General Motors and Chrysler. Obama intends to defend the bailouts as money well spent.
The trip comes as the government prepares to announce May unemployment figures amid signs that hiring may be slowing.
Obama’s handling of the economy generates some of his highest public disapproval ratings.
