国际英语新闻:U.S. small businesses still face "very tough" economy: Geithner

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Small businesses in the United States still face tough economic conditions even though the recession officially ended more than two years ago, and legislators need to do more to help them, said U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday.

"America's small businesses still face a very tough economy," Geithner said in a testimony at a Senate penal. "They are experiencing more challenges than larger businesses in the wake of the recession."

"Small businesses are more concentrated in construction and retail, industries that were at the epicenter of the crisis and have not returned to pre-recession levels, and they export much less than larger businesses," the treasury secretary told the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.

He said small businesses, the major job engine of the U.S. economy, also have been hurt by tightening credit.

Geithner outlined measures that the Obama administration has taken to help small businesses operate and hire.

He also said that the America Jobs Act, proposed by President Barack Obama on Sept. 8, will play an important role in getting small businesses back on track of self-sustained growth.

Trying to tackle near-double-digit unemployment and spur the sluggish economy, Obama laid out the American Jobs Act to provide tax cuts and credit, extend unemployment benefits and increase investment in infrastructure.

But the 447-billion-dollar bill was stuck in Congress as Republicans reject to consider it as a whole.

Geithner urged the lawmakers to pass the bill.

"Private independent estimates suggest that the American Jobs Act will add up to 1.9 million new jobs, many of which will be created by small businesses that serve their communities across the country," he said.