国际英语新闻：Obama to hold job forum in December

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama announced Thursday that the White House will hold a job forum in December, acknowledging high unemployment is one of the "great challenges" facing his administration.

Obama said that over the past 10 months, the government has taken a number of bold steps to break the back of this recession.

    The U.S. economy grew 3.5 percent in the third quarter after four consecutive quarters of contraction, but unemployment has continued to climb.

    "The economic growth that we've seen has not yet led to the job growth that we desperately need," and millions of Americans "are desperately searching for jobs," Obama said before departing on a week long trip to Asia that ends on Nov. 19.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the economy in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, November 6, 2009

    Obama reaffirmed that unemployment, usually a lagging indicator, will improve slower than the economic growth.

    "Given the magnitude of the economic turmoil that we've experienced, employers are reluctant to hire," he said.

    Obama said his administration has "an obligation to consider every additional responsible step that we can to encourage and accelerate job creation in this country."

    "That's why in December we'll be holding a forum at the White House on jobs and economic growth," Obama said.

    The forum will gather CEOs and small-business owners, economists and financial experts, as well as representatives from labor unions and noNPRofit groups, to talk about how they can work with the government to create jobs and get economy moving again.

    The October unemployment rate jumped to a 10.2 percent, or a 26-year high, and the White House has warned it could get a little worse before it starts getting better.

    Many economists expected that the unemployment rate will not return to below 9 percent in 2010. They said creating jobs has become the biggest test for the Obama administration.