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Barack Obama is wrapping up perhaps the most active week of his presidency thus far. Just days ago he signed into law the contentious $787 billion economic stimulus package, aimed at fixing the nation's deep financial woes. The act was followed by the unveiling of a $75 billion plan to curb growing home foreclosures.

President Obama unveiled his budget for 2010 on Thursday. Democrats praised the president's commitment to expanding health care coverage, education funding and clean energy. Republicans were skeptical — especially about plans to raise taxes on businesses and wealthy households.

Now that President Obama has laid out his budget and plans for reviving the economy, it's up to Congress to put them into action. But lawmakers are deeply divided. Democrats say the federal government should take the lead in turning things around; Republicans insist that's a cynical ploy to pump up big government.

There was more bad economic news this week. Unemployment numbers climbed to 8.1 percent — the highest in a quarter of a century. Retail sales orders are down. The stock market dipped below 7,000 — the first time in a decade.

The nation's unemployment rate in February was 8.1 percent. The Labor Department reports more than 651,000 jobs were eliminated last month. Employers are cutting their payrolls and looking for other ways to cut costs as the recession takes a bite out of their sales and profits.

President Barack Obama Friday called the loss of 651,000 U.S. jobs in February "astounding." Obama was in Columbus, Ohio, to meet with police department recruits whose jobs were protected by the government stimulus package passed last month.

In his weekly radio address Saturday morning, President Obama said his $3.6 trillion budget proposal reflects the priorities of the voters he met on the campaign trail, but he acknowledged not everyone shares those priorities.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell Monday more than 3 percent, slipping below 7,000 for the first time since 1997. The markets are reacting to a variety of negative reports, everything from AIG's losses to Warren Buffett's comments over the weekend.

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday people injured by drugs can file lawsuits against the manufacturers in state courts, even when the drugs involved had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The ruling came in the case of a guitarist who lost an arm because of a botched anti-nausea injection.

President Obama described an America ready for the daunting challenges it faces, from an economy in crisis to wars and terrorist threats from abroad. In his first speech to a joint session of Congress, the president called on politicians and the public to embrace shared sacrifice and new efforts to improve health care, schools and the environment.