2010-08-06 09:13

WASHINGTON – Christina Romer, one of US President Barack Obama's most pivotal economic advisers, is quitting her position, a change that comes as the White House fights to show signs of clear economic gains to a hurting nation.

File photo shows Dr. Christina Romer, the Chair of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, holds a copy of the Economic Report of the President while speaking in the Briefing Room of the White House in Washington February 11, 2010.?[Agencies]

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Romer, the head of the Council of Economic Advisers, announced her resignation on Thursday. It takes effect Sept. 3.

She will return to her job as a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. The White House cast the decision as an unsurprising one driven by family reasons; in a statement, Obama said Romer has long wanted to return to California, where her son will be starting high school in the fall.

Romer has been one of the administration's most prominent voices on the economy, making frequent appearances on television and at White House events to promote Obama's policies. Her resignation comes as the White House struggles to convince the public that the economy is recovery amid near-double digit unemployment.