Facing heavy criticism for a sluggish economic recovery, U.S. President Barack Obama brought his talk about the importance of growing more green jobs to a thriving LED factory in North Carolina Monday.

"Today, the single most serious economic problem we face is getting people back to work," Obama acknowledged in his address to employees, business leaders and others gathered yesterday afternoon at Cree Inc. in Durham.

But the president also took the opportunity to resound key tenets of his administration -- that clean energy, energy efficiency and the industries and innovations supporting them are key to the country's economic recovery. And he recapped progress that has occurred since he came to office.

"We stabilized the economy," he said. "We prevented a financial meltdown. An economy that was shrinking is now growing.  We’ve added more than 2 million private sector jobs over the last 15 months alone ... But I’m still not satisfied. I will not be satisfied until everyone who wants a good job that offers some security has a good job that offers security."

Job growth and the economy are vulnerable points for Obama and his administration. The U.S. unemployment rate edged up to 9.1 percent in May from 9 percent in April, having been 8.8 percent in March. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the slight shift in May means that the unemployment picture was "essentially unchanged" compared to the prior month, the figures fueled further partisan acrimony. In fact, jobs were the subject of the first question in the televised debate last night among seven Republicans who are vying for the party's nomination in the 2012 presidential race. As expected, the presidential hopefuls slammed the incumbent on the issues of jobs and the economy.

While visiting Cree and Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, Obama talked of what his administration has done to back education opportunities, training and other efforts to create jobs. He also convened his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness at Cree and pointed out the growth that the host firm has experienced in the past three years.

"This company has made amazing progress," said Obama, who first visited Cree during his primary campaign in May 2008. "The technology at this company is growing in leaps and bounds." In the past two years, the manufacturer of energy efficient lighting has filled almost 750 full-time positions, added a new lighting production line and broken ground for a new facility on its campus. The production line expansion project, which boosted capacity and capabilities, was bolstered by $39 million in cleantech manufacturing-related tax credits.

Cree and other businesses in the innovation hub of Research Triangle Park have a rich academic base to draw from for recruits with the University of North Carolina, Duke and North Carolina State University -- the alma mater of Cree's founders -- so nearby, Obama said. As a whole, however, the country is not producing enough talent to fill the high-tech and highly skilled jobs that are available today. "Right now, there are more than four job-seekers for every job opening in America," Obama said. "But when it comes to science and high-tech fields, the opposite is true. The businesses represented here tell me they’re having a hard time finding high-skilled workers to fill their job openings."

To that end, Obama said, commitments last week by the private sector, colleges and the National Association of Manufacturers will "make it possible for 500,000 community college students to earn industry-accepted credentials for manufacturing jobs that companies across America are looking to fill."

Also, the president and the jobs council unveiled an "all-hands-on-deck strategy" yesterday that he said will enable 10,000 new American engineers to be trained every year.