国际英语新闻:Obama vows to create more jobs amid heartening employment news

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama vowed on Saturday to continue his efforts to create more jobs amid heartening news that the unemployment rate has declined to its lowest level in nearly three years, which could help boost his race for reelection.

"We're heading in the right direction. And we're not going to let up," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, commenting on the latest Labor Department report that U.S. employers added 200,000 jobs last month.

The report came amid a flurry of positive economic news, including an increase in consumer confidence and production by factories, which signal that the U.S. recovery is gathering momentum. It was the sixth consecutive month that more jobs were created, which cheered Obama as he is fighting for reelection.

This year's presidential race is expected to be largely decided by the job market. Although the unemployment rate has declined to 8.5 percent, its lowest since Obama's second month in office, but it may be not enough to secure a win for Obama as no sitting U.S. president has won reelection with an unemployment rate at 8.5 percent.

Acknowledging that his biggest challenge is rebuilding the U.S. economy, Obama said that "the most important thing we need to do is get more Americans back to work."

"Because this is a make or break moment for the middle class and all those working to get there. We've got to keep at it. We've got to keep creating jobs. And we've got to keep rebuilding our economy so that everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share," Obama said.

Obama added that the White House will host a forum on Wednesday called "Insourcing American Jobs," where he will hear from business leaders who are bringing jobs back home and see how the government can help other businesses follow their lead.