US economy in much better shape from 4 years ago: White House

"The President's principal preoccupation since he ran for this office, beginning in 2007, has been what we need to do to make our economy work for the middle class, to help expand the middle class; to give average Americans the opportunities they need to help this economy grow and to help it be as strong and dominant in the 21st century as it was in the 20th," he said.

"You'll hear that again in the State of the Union Address tomorrow night," Carney said.

He, however, refuted media reports that Obama would come out with new proposals on nuclear non-proliferation.

"The President made clear publicly his desire to further reduce nuclear arms. I don't think there was anything new in the story that suggested to the contrary.