U.S. President Barack Obama has called on Congress to pass a series of initiatives the president says will spur job growth. In his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Obama said Washington's urgent mission is to get the economy growing faster and create jobs. The latest jobs report released Friday was better than expected, with the economy adding 117,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticking down a notch to 9.1 percent. "Our job right now has to be doing whatever we can to help folks find work, to help create the climate where a business can put up that job listing, where incomes are rising again for people," Obama said. The steps the president wants Congress to take include extending payroll tax cuts for another year, passing three free trade agreements and enacting patent reform. All of the measures are proposals the president has called for previously. Obama, who recorded his address before S&P's move, said that while the debt-ceiling deal makes some progress in reducing the nation's deficit, both parties (Democrats and Republicans) are going to have to work together on a larger plan to get the country's finances in order.
