ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION
STORY: President Barack Obama said on Monday the United States needs to extend the payroll tax cut because the U.S. recovery is fragile and the situation in Europe is adding to the uncertainty.
"Although the unemployment rate went down last month, our recovery is still fragile," Obama said in a statement to reporters urging congressional Republicans to extend the payroll tax cut into 2012.
He also said failure to extend unemployment insurance would do extraordinary harm to the U.S. economy.
