US president Barack Obama has called on corporate America to help tackle the nation's highest unemployment in 26 years and said the government did not have enough public dollars to do the job alone.
He was speaking at a meeting of business and union leaders invited to the White House to brainstorm how to increase job creation.
US unemployment hit a 26-year high of 10.2% in October, chipping away at his popularity and potentially shaping his political future.
Mr Obama said he wanted to find ways to leverage private sector dollars "now sitting on the sidelines" to invest in new infrastructure projects, helping create jobs.
Tax incentives for business hiring was an idea that should be looked at, the president said.
Critics have dismissed the White House forum as largely a public relations exercise. Mr Obama has already said he wants measures that will not add to the country's record budget deficit, effectively ruling out significantly more public spending on top of the current $US787 billion stimulus package.
