Obama: Economic recovery is 'going to take time' (AP)

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says people need to be patient about the economic recovery and that training workers for manufacturing jobs will help with the turnaround.

The recession didn't happen overnight and won't end that way, either, the president said Saturday in his weekly radio and online address.

"It's going to take time," Obama said.

Recent polling found broad disapproval with Obama's handling of the economy as the 2012 presidential election takes shape. It reached 59 percent in a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Job growth slowed sharply in May and unemployment inched up to 9.1 percent. Economic indicators also showed that manufacturers cut 5,000 jobs last month. Those were the first job losses in that sector in seven months.

No president since World War II has won a second term with a jobless rate above 7.2 percent, and Obama's options for achieving faster economic growth before the November 2012 election appear limited.

Obama scheduled a visit to Durham, N.C., on Monday for a session with his jobs council on how Washington can encourage private-sector hiring. Council members and administration officials also planned to hear from businesses in the region.

Last Wednesday, Obama announced an effort by the private sector, colleges and the National Association of Manufacturers to help half a million community college students become trained and certified for manufacturing jobs. They would get a credential guaranteeing that they are skilled.

"If you're a company that's hiring, you'll know that anyone who has this degree has the skills you're looking for," the president said Saturday. "If you're a student considering community college, you'll know that your diploma will give you a leg up in the job market."

Obama said other steps, such as providing students with a quality education and investing in new jobs in the clean energy sector, will aid economic growth.

In the weekly Republican message, also on jobs, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., recalled the administration's promise that unemployment would go no higher than 8 percent after Obama pumped billions of dollars into the economy soon after taking office.

Kinzinger said the "road to refueling our economy and creating jobs" includes tackling government debt, simplifying tax laws, limiting regulations, passing free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, and boosting domestic energy production.

"These are some of the steps we need to take to get government out of the way and let our economy grow and get back to producing jobs," he said.

___

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: http://www.youtube.com/RepublicanConference

Thomas' play going to waste in Stanley Cup finals (AP)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Tim Thomas is giving a masterful performance in his net during the Stanley Cup finals. He's also doing an excellent job masking the frustration that must be coursing through him.

The Bruins' star goalie has allowed just six goals by the Vancouver Canucks in five games, yet Boston is heading home facing elimination in Game 6 on Monday.

Vancouver moved to the brink of its first NHL title in Game 5 on Friday with a 1-0 victory — the Canucks' second 1-0 home win in a series dominated by the home teams.

Thomas is Boston's only constant in the series, scrambling around his crease in a textbook performance of a goaltending style that won't be found in any instruction manual. The Bruins won two blowout games at home, but they haven't caught a break in Vancouver.

Unless they hold off the Canucks at TD Garden in Game 6, they won't get one last chance to figure it out.

"The plan was for us to score more than them, which I guess we have, but ..." Thomas said, his voice trailing off.

Indeed, the Bruins have outscored Vancouver 14-6 in the series, but 12 of those goals were in two blowout wins in Boston. The West Coast hasn't been nearly as kind.

Thomas stopped 24 shots in Game 5, but he failed to get to Maxim Lapierre's third-period winner, scored off a canny rebound of Kevin Bieksa's shot behind his net.

The Canucks acknowledged they had to resort to trickery and luck just to get one goal against Thomas, who might be the next on a small list of players to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP from the losing team.

Thomas would prefer to win that trophy along with the bigger prize, and he remains confident the Bruins can do it. He hopes Boston can gather momentum back home, where the Bruins twice routed the Canucks on energy drawn partially from Vancouver defenseman Aaron Rome's dangerous late hit on Boston forward Nathan Horton, who's out for the series.

"It seems like so far this series, the home crowds have helped the teams," said Thomas, who has a jaw-dropping .971 save percentage in the finals, stopping 165 of Vancouver's 171 shots. "It's not always the case, but going home for Game 6, we hope it's the case one more time."

The Canucks would love to wrap up their franchise's first title without going through the tension of a Game 7, although they emerged from Game 5 feeling more relief than elation.

Vancouver had the NHL's highest-scoring offense and best power play during the regular season, but the Canucks have been forced to play a different game just to survive in the finals.

So far, they're just getting away with their meager offensive output because goalie Roberto Luongo has been sharp at the biggest moments. Luongo was pulled from Game 4 after giving up 12 goals in just over four periods, but the veteran Olympic gold medal-winner's shutout in Game 5 proved he has a knack for big games, no matter what his critical fans in Vancouver might think.

Luongo, the Canucks' former captain, took on a vocal leadership role in the Canucks' dressing room before Game 5.

"It wasn't time to put your head down," Luongo said. "Best of 2-out-of-3, and that's the way I looked at it. We've got a great opportunity here coming Monday night."

If the Canucks get one more win without help from the NHL's last two scoring champions, this might rank among the most improbable methods of victory in finals history.

Captain Henrik Sedin — last season's MVP and NHL points leader — hasn't scored in the finals, while his brother, Daniel — this season's scoring champ and favorite for MVP — has one goal and one assist. Ryan Kesler, the second-line center who was arguably Vancouver's best player in the Western Conference playoff race, has just one assist, clearly struggling with an injury that was apparently exacerbated by a hit from Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk in Game 2.

"It's going to be tight, but if we play the right way, we have a chance," said Daniel Sedin, who hasn't scored since Game 2. "We can't play the way we did in the last two games in Boston. That has to end."

The Bruins realize they're in a tight spot, but they've been in multiple jams already in the postseason, which started with two home losses to Montreal. Boston has won Game 7 twice already, beating the Canadiens and Tampa Bay — but both of those were at home.

"We've been through this, I don't know how many times, so it's not something that's new to us," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "We've had to regroup all year. I don't think we're a team that's done anything the easy way, so in certain ways, it's not a surprising that we're here in this situation where we've got to bring our team back home and create a Game 7."