President Obama, Thursday:

The private sector is doing fine. Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government. …

And so, you know, if Republicans want to be helpful, if they really want to move forward and put people back to work, what they should be thinking about is how do we help state and local governments and how do we help the construction industry? Because the recipes that they’re promoting are basically the kinds of policies that would add weakness to the — to the economy, would result in further layoffs, would not provide relief in the housing market, and would result, I think most economists estimate, in lower growth and fewer jobs, not more.

President Obama, Friday:

The president, in response to a question Friday afternoon in the Oval Office, backtracked somewhat on his comments his morning that “the private sector is doing fine.”

“It is absolutely clear that the economy is not doing fine. That’s why I had a press conference,” Obama said. …

“You know, and what I’m interested in hearing from Congress and Mr. Romney is what steps are they willing to take right now that are going to make an actual difference?” Obama asked. “And so far, all we’ve heard are additional tax cuts to the folks who are doing fine, as opposed to taking steps that would actually help deal with the weaknesses in the economy and promote the kind of economic growth that we would all like to see.”