Obama to unveil 300-billion-dollar jobs package

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce a 300-billion-dollar plan on Thursday, including tax cuts and spending for 2012 to boost job creation and stimulate recovery, U.S. media reported late Tuesday. The new plan, which will be unveiled in Obama's address to Congress on Thursday night, will cover programs such as tax incentives for businesses, investment in infrastructure, special assistance to dislocated workers and a continuation of payroll tax relief for middle-class workers. At recent press conferences, White House spokesmen stressed that the president has put job creation at the top of his agenda. U.S. unemployment remained at 9.1 percent more than two years after the recession's official end in June 2009. The jobless rate and the sluggish recovery from the worst recession since the Great Depression will be central issues as Obama runs for re-election next year. "We need to do things that will have a direct impact in the short-term to grow the economy and create jobs and the president will put forward proposals that will do just that," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. Republicans, who control the U.S. House, have signaled resistance to new spending that would add to the federal budget deficit. Still, the GOP indicated that there might be common ground for the two sides to join their efforts to create jobs. In a letter to Obama on Tuesday, U.S. House Republican leaders said they are going to find potential opportunities for Congress and the White House to work together this fall on jobs. Speaker John Boehner and House Republican Leader Eric Cantor said although the two parties continue to debate and discuss on different approaches to job creation, "it is also critical that our differences not prelude us from taking action in areas where there is common agreement." "We should not approach this as an all or nothing situation," they said. The letter says Republicans could agree to spend on public works projects under certain conditions, and support changes in how jobless benefits are dispensed. U.S. economy grew only 1.3 percent in the second quarter after a slower pace of 0.4 percent in the first quarter. The White House projected that the economy will increase at a rate of 1.7 percent for the year of 2011. Unemployment rate is expected to keep at 8.3 percent to 9 percent in 2012. With jobless rate hovering at stubbornly high level, President Obama's public support has dropped to a new low in recent polls.