President Barack Obama is expected to pledge a series of measures to revive job growth in the United States during his first State of the Union address Wednesday night before a joint session of Congress, dpa reported.
The US unemployment rate is currently at a quarter-century high of 10 per cent and was part of the reason that voters dealt Obama's Democratic Party a stinging defeat earlier this month in a Massachusetts election.
Tackling unemployment and addressing the still-struggling economy is expected to take clear priority in Obama's speech over foreign policy issues like terrorism and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Jobs are his priority, legislative and otherwise," David Axelrod told US broadcaster CNN ahead of Obama's speech. "We have a lot of work to do to get people back on the job."
The annual State of the Union is a chance for presidents to reflect on successes and failures of the last year and rally the country around an agenda for the next 12 months.
Republican Scott Brown's January 19 victory in a special Senate election in left-leaning Massachusetts was taken as a sign that many voters believed the administration had a misplaced focus on health care and other domestic priorities in its first year.
Brown captured the Senate seat of long-time Democratic icon Edward Kennedy, denying Democrats their 60-seat super-majority in the 100- member Senate and stopping health care legislation in its tracks.
Republicans are hoping to capitalize further on voter frustrations in upcoming mid-term congressional elections in November, and will use one of their own rising stars in an opposition rebuttal to Obama's address.
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who won a November 2009 election that offered the first glimmers of hope of a comeback for conservatives, will following Obama's speech on Wednesday night on behalf of his Republican Party.