Obama outlines new initiatives to reduce U.S. unemployment

President Barack Obama’s most recent weekly radio address outlined his hopes that renewed engagement with the East may help to spur domestic job growth and reduce the amount of unemployed workers looking to consolidate debt.

In his address, Obama detailed his recent trip to Asia in the last week as an opportunity to "open a new era of American engagement" and discuss the nation’s financial relationship as the U.S. looks to continue its economic recovery from the Great Recession.

Noting that the U.S. and Asia do a great deal of commerce that can have a pronounced effect on the U.S. job market, Obama said that an increase of 5 percent in the nation’s exports to Asian Pacific nations could add "hundreds of thousands" of jobs across the country.

"In order to keep growing, we need to spend less, save more, and get our federal deficit under control," he said. "We also need to place a greater emphasis on exports that we can build, produce, and sell to other nations – exports that can help create new jobs at home and raise living standards throughout the world."

Obama also announced plans for a White House forum featuring CEOs, small business owners, and economists to discuss further solutions to the nation’s economic rebound.