Geithner sees economic stability returning but pain still ahead

Geithner sees economic stability returning but pain still ahead

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday that while the economic situation may be stabilizing, the effects of economic recovery would not be felt for “a long time” for many Americans.

“Things have clearly stabilized,” Geithner said during a luncheon sponsored by Newsweek magazine, ABC News reported. “The pace of decline in most measures of economic activity has slowed quite a lot and that’s an important beginning.”

While credit markets are more liquid, he said it will still take a while to recover, he said.

“It took a long time for these problems to build up. It's going to take time for us to work through them,”

You know, we’re not going to have a steady, even process of repair. It's going to be bumpy, still feel fragile for a while, and you know, there's just enormous pain and suffering across the country today.

I think even as growth starts to turn positive -- which will happen -- unemployment is going to keep increasing for a while, he said. And it's not going to feel better for a long time for millions of Americans.