Obama Pressed to Do More on Jobs, Wages

The nation's slowly improving jobs picture hides problems like stagnant wages and fewer working hours that strike directly at President Barack Obama's base of support -- young people, racial minorities and the less affluent.

As the president launches a new focus on jobs, his traditional allies contend that Obama has put too much of an emphasis on a deficit-cutting grand bargain with Republicans at the expense of creating jobs.

New college graduates face a downbeat labor market. The unemployment rate for workers under age 25 with at least a bachelor's degree has averaged 8.2 percent, compared to 5.4 percent in 2007.

A new study found that nearly 2 million private-sector employees paid with taxpayer dollars earn wages too low to support a family.

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