WASHINGTON (RPRN) 5/19/09--Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the U.S. economy is stabilizing, but unemployment may continue rising for a while. In a Washington speech Monday, Geithner said there are a number of positive signs in the economy, including an improving credit market. But he says hiring tends to lag behind other parts of the economy, so joblessness will take time to turn around.

The Treasury secretary also said complex financial instruments called derivatives need closer oversight.

And Geithner says executive pay needs to be changed so that company bosses are encouraged to keep the long-term health of the company in mind and calculate risks with greater care. He says this approach will do more to prevent future economic problems than just putting limits on what business leaders get paid.

We will get another look at the U.S. economy Tuesday when the government publishes a closely-watched measure of the housing market.

Economists surveyed by news organizations say the report on housing starts will probably show improvement.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.