Obama says U.S. blacks overall better off than when he began presidency

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday said U.S. blacks are better off now than they were when he began his presidency in 2009, but that the gap between blacks and whites remains. "Like the rest of America, Black America, in the aggregate, is better off now than it was when I came into office ... the gap between income and wealth of white and black America persists, and we've got more work to do on that front," he told reporters in an end-of-year news conference. (Reporting by Gabriel Debenedetti; Editing by Chris Reese)