Obama urges Europe to act quickly on crisis

President Barack Obama said that European leaders face an "urgent need to act" to resolve the region's financial crisis as the threat of a renewed recession there spells dangers for an anemic US recovery five months before elections.

Speaking a week after a dismal US jobs report, Obama said decisions about how to solve the euro zone crisis are fundamentally in the hands of Europe's leaders and that showing political commitment will be a "strong step."

"They understand the seriousness of the situation and the urgent need to act," Obama told a news conference.

He also urged the US Congress to pass measures he proposed last September that would create jobs in construction and state and local governments, while noting that private sector employment was looking better.