Obama's day: A housing speech in Phoenix

President Obama continues a cross-country economic tour Thursday with a housing speech in Phoenix.

Seeking to encourage more home purchases, Obama will announce a 0.5% cut in annual mortgage insurance premiums on loans from the Federal Housing Administration.

The president will also "put a spotlight on how the recovering housing sector has helped restore wealth and economic security to millions of middle class families," says the White House schedule.

Obama spent the night in the Phoenix area, traveling there after delivering a speech in Michigan on the economy and the auto industry.

He returns to Washington in the late afternoon, but travels again Friday to Tennessee to discuss education and manufacturing policies.

The trips are designed in part to preview Obama's State of the Union Address on Jan. 20.