Ford Motor Co.'s surprisingly strong quarterly earnings capped a day of upbeat news Monday that showed the U.S. economy continuing to gain strength in key sectors including manufacturing and housing. The only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy this year, Ford reported a nearly $1 billion profit from July to September, helped by cost-cutting, the government 'cash for clunkers' program and strong demand for its F-150 pickups. But Ford's strengthening financial picture underscores the major weakness plaguing the nascent economic recovery. Ford is gearing up to build more vehicles in the United States but has no plans to hire more workers to do it. That's weighing on the Obama administration, which is grappling with rising U.S. unemployment even as the overall economy has returned to growth. President Barack Obama gathered with business leaders and other members of his Economic Recovery Advisory Board on Monday to help develop ways for the public and private sectors to work together to reverse job losses. He called for 'bold, innovative action.' 'Having brought the economy back from the brink, the question is: How are we going to make sure that people are getting back to work and able to support their families?' Obama said in the Roosevelt Room of the White House as he convened the group's second meeting, broadcast on the Internet. 'It's not going to happen overnight, but we will not rest until we are succeeding in generating the jobs that this economy needs.' Obama noted last week's announcement that the economy grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, signaling the unofficial end of the deep recession. There were other positive developments Monday. Pending sales of existing homes increased for the eighth consecutive month in September, rising 6.1 percent, the National Association of Realtors said. September also was good for the building industry, as U.S. construction spending had its largest gain in a year, according to the Commerce Department. The key gauge of manufacturing, the Institute for Supply Management's factory index, jumped more than expected last month, rising to a three-year high. And there was the unexpected profit at Ford. The automaker reported net income of $997 million, or 29 cents a share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compared with a net loss of $161 million, or 7 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago. Wall Street had expected Ford to lose 12 cents a share. 'Our third-quarter results clearly show that Ford is making tremendous progress despite the prolonged slump in the global economy,' Chief Executive Alan Mulally said. The company expects to produce 570,000 vehicles in North America in the last three months of the year, up 141,000 compared with the fourth quarter of 2008. But Ford officials said the production increase wouldn't result in additional jobs. Such developments have the White House worried. The national unemployment rate, already at a 26-year high of 9.8 percent, could hit double-digits Friday when the government releases data for October. 'We anticipate that we're going to continue to see some job losses in the weeks and months to come,' Obama said as he sat flanked by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, the advisory board's head, and John Doerr, a partner in the Silicon Valley venture capital company Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The hourlong meeting focused on three areas: raising U.S. exports, expanding environmentally friendly technology and increasing spending on infrastructure such as roads and bridges. The task is made harder by the federal government's need to reduce its debt. Doerr and others talked about retrofitting U.S. homes and schools to be more energy efficient, which would increase jobs and lower energy costs. Robert Wolf, chief executive of investment bank UBS Group Americas, recommended the creation of a national infrastructure bank that would pair public and private money to build roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects. Jeff Immelt, chief executive of General Electric, noted that as worker productivity increases in the face of economic pressures, companies must boost output to start hiring new workers. One way is to increase sales of U.S. products abroad. He noted that exports account for 7 percent of U.S. economic output, whereas in Germany that number is 40 percent. 'We may never get to Germany, but there's no reason why we should be so low,' Immelt said. He suggested doubling exports as a percentage of U.S. economic output over a set time and creating 3 million to 5 million related jobs. Ford said market-share gains abroad and domestically, along with $1 billion in cost reductions, helped drive its third-quarter profit. Ford shares jumped more than 8 percent Monday, but they gave up some of that gain in after-hours trading following an announcement that the company planned to issue $3 billion in convertible notes and stock to pay down debt and strengthen its balance sheet. (Begin optional trim) Ford reported that it made money in the North American automotive market for the first time since the first quarter of 2005, turning a pretax operating profit of $357 million in the region, compared with a loss of $2.6 billion a year ago. Ford said the government's cash for clunkers program, which provided rebates to entice Americans to buy new cars, helped boost domestic sales. The company's Focus compact and Escape sport utility vehicle were among the biggest sellers under the program. A similar program in Europe helped increase sales there. However, Mulally said Ford also made higher profits on the vehicles it sold, partly because of strong consumer demand for its redesigned F-150 pickup trucks, the revamped Taurus sedan and the Fusion hybrid. 'Cash for clunkers helped everybody, but that has come and gone, and what we're seeing now is a fundamental improvement in the industry,' he said. (End optional trim) While Ford boosted its outlook for 2011, it remained cautious about 2010, saying it would provide further guidance when it released its fourth-quarter results early next year. In addition, the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America on Monday voted down further concessions in its contract with Ford, potentially putting the company at a cost disadvantage compared with General Motors and Chrysler. 'We're just not sure about the strength of the recovery' going into next year, Mulally said. 'For right now, we just want to see how this develops.' Zimmerman reported from Los Angeles. 