CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get back to the president's State of the Union address. Many of you may be tuning in tonight to hear what the president has to say about restoring growth to the economy. Our Greg Clarkin has more on that.</s>GREG CLARKIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Greg Clarkin on Wall Street. Well, first and foremost on the minds of many Americans is the fragile state of the economy. Over the last year, unemployment has risen. There are now 8.6 million Americans out of work. And households have taken on more credit card debt. We've also seen personal bankruptcies soaring. So against that backdrop of a weak economy, many Americans want to hear some talk about the economy from President Bush in his State of the Union address.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to see him do a little more in order to give businesses incentive to hire people again, to not lay so many people off.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm working at a messenger service, you know, and I'm kind of struggling myself, you know, because I'm making ends meet, you know, and I think it should be more work. You know, he should concentrate on bringing more jobs to the area.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Certainly some, I think, some decision on what's going to happen with Iraq. I think that's what's causing a lot of volatility right now. And then beyond that, I suppose some encouragement, I think, and a kind of a message, maybe, to other countries that we know what we're doing.</s>CLARKIN: Now, despite all the negative news, there are bright spots. Inflation is almost non-existent and mortgage rates remain at historic lows. The housing market still extremely hot. Greg Clarkin, CNN Financial News, New York.
What Will President Say on Economy?