DURHAM, N.C. – Beset by a grim employment picture, President Barack Obama on Monday pledged to ease the way for businesses to expand hiring and offered assurances to an anxious public that he is focused on creating jobs.

“Our economic challenges were years in the making,” he told workers at an energy-efficient-lighting plant in Durham, “and it will take years to get back to where we need to be.”

Obama called for educating more high-tech workers, announcing a plan to train 10,000 new American engineers every year through a public-private partnership. He also held a high-profile meeting with top CEOs who make up his advisory jobs council, offering encouragement for several ideas, including a plan that could create an estimated 114,000 jobs by increasing energy efficiencies in commercial and apartment buildings.

“Today, the single most serious economic problem we face is getting people back to work,” the president said. “We stabilized the economy, we prevented a financial meltdown, and an economy that was shrinking is now growing. … But, I’m still not satisfied. I will not be satisfied until everyone who wants a good job that offers some security has a good job that offers security.”

Associated Press