WASHINGTON - THE United States is on the 'road to recovery' nearly one year after teetering Wall Street giants sparked global panic and worldwide financial woes, President Barack Obama said on Tuesday.

Speaking to labour leaders on the US holiday of Labor Day, Mr Obama assured the crowd in the northern city of Cincinnati, Ohio that the United States was making strides after a year of financial hardship.

'Make so mistake, we're moving in the right direction. We're on the road to recovery, Ohio. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise,' Mr Obama said.

Mr Obama pointed to data released last week that suggested improving economic conditions, showing job losses narrowed to 216,000 in August while the unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent.

'But, my friends, we still have a long way to go. We're not going to rest. We're not going to let up,' Mr Obama said.

The US president also vowed to press on with his bid to reform US health care, with lawmakers returning Tuesday from their summer recess and a major address by Obama to both houses of Congress set for Wednesday.

'We're also going to build an America where health reform delivers more stability and security to every American,' he said.

'We are going to reform the system for those that have insurance and those that don't. I'll have a lot more to say about this on Wednesday night.' Following a summer when many public forums on health care, dubbed 'town hall meetings,' saw lawmakers heckled by irate opponents of health insurance reform, Mr Obama said debate was important, but that it must end at some point.

'The Congress and the country has been debating this issue for many months.

The debate is good because that's important. We've got to get this right. But every debate at some point comes to an end. At some point it's time to decide.

At some point it's time to act.' At the centre of the debate is the creation of a 'public option' in health care coverage, which would compete with private insurers in a bid to reduce the number of insured, currently estimated at around 46 million people. -- AFP