Obama urges Congress to pass payroll tax cut (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama says Congress should pass a payroll tax cut before their end-of-the year break, and he's raising the possibility that "we can all spend Christmas here together."

Obama made the comments Friday at an event on energy efficiency.

The president says he'll keep pushing Congress to approve the payroll tax cut. He says now is not the time to slam the brakes on the economy, but it's "time to step on the gas."

The government just reported that the unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent in November, down from 9 percent in October. That's the lowest since March 2009.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_economy