Washington ? Saying that his policies have “stopped the bleeding” in the job market, President Barack Obama called Saturday on the country to “recommit” to helping the middle class.

“This Labor Day, we are reminded that we didn’t become the most prosperous country in the world by rewarding greed and recklessness. We did it by rewarding hard work and responsibility. We did it by recognizing that we rise or we fall together as one nation — one people — all of us vested in one another,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.

Heading into a week of major economic events, the president is attempting to walk a familiar fine line between sounding optimistic and realistic, striking a forward-looking tone even as he recounts reasons why the U.S. economy has sagged for so long.

“I don’t have to tell you that this is a very tough time for our country,” he said.

Labor Day is about more than grilling food and spending time with family and friends, Obama said.

“It’s also a day to honor the American worker — to reaffirm our commitment to the great American middle class that has, for generations, made our economy the envy of the world,” he said.