Obama says boosting jobs is a top priority

By Alister Bull

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama assured Americans on Monday that boosting jobs was a top priority, but gave no specifics about how to meet this goal that some economists say warrants more government spending.

The White House said separately that all "sensible and reasonable measures" would be considered to encourage employment, but also stressed that it must be balanced with the need for the United States to tackle record budget deficits.

"Our economy is growing again for the first time in more than a year," Obama told reporters after a meeting with his Cabinet. "We cannot be sit back and be satisfied given the extraordinarily high unemployment levels that we have seen."

U.S. unemployment is at a 26-year high of 10.2 percent and may get worse before it improves, despite the economy's swing back to positive growth in the third quarter of 2009.

"This has been a very difficult year, and a lot of people out there are having a very, very tough time," Obama said, after instructing his Cabinet to relax a little bit this week over the Thanksgiving holiday, and then buckle down to work.

Obama, whose once-lofty public approval ratings have been hurt by the economy and high jobless numbers since he took office in January, has convened a jobs forum on Dec. 3 to review other measures to boost payrolls.

He said the forum would focus on how to lift U.S. exports and infrastructure spending and create green jobs.

Obama has also said he is interested in solutions that would not cost much public money, warning that adding to the U.S. debt could trigger a double-dip recession.