WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama on Saturday said bipartisan efforts were critical to bolster the nation's economic growth despite recent progress made on job creation and manufacturing sector recovery.

"After decades in which the middle class was working harder and harder just to keep up, and a punishing recession that made it worse, we made the tough choices required not just to recover from crisis, but to rebuild on a new foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth," Obama said in his weekly address. "Our businesses have created 7.8 million new jobs in the past 44 months. Another 200,000 Americans went back to work last month. The American auto industry has come roaring back with more than 350, 000 new jobs."

President Obama also touted the country's good performance in energy production by saying "We generate more renewable energy than ever, more natural gas than anybody, and for the first time in nearly 20 years, America now produces more oil than we buy from other countries."

"Imagine how much farther along we could be if both parties were working together. Think about what we could do if a reckless few didn't hold the economy hostage every few months, or waste time on dozens of votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act rather than try to help us fix it," said Obama.

Obama's remarks came after a string of bad news for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, which aims at helping millions of uninsured Americans to get health insurance.