The U.S. is easing 500 government regulations it says will save businesses $10 billion over the next five years and help boost job growth in the country.

The government said the changes will affect rules at more than two dozen agencies, regulations that American businesses have often said are onerous and needlessly cut their profits. Among other changes, the government is ending some reporting requirements for hospitals, adopting a single application form for small businesses seeking government financial aid and cutting the approval time for offshore wind power projects.

The rule changes, announced while U.S. President Barack Obama is on vacation, are an effort by the White House to assist corporations at a time when the national economy has slowed and 14 million workers remain unemployed.

One of the country's most important business groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the changes are a “worthy effort.” But it said they “will not have a material impact” on what it described as regulatory “burdens” that businesses face.

Business groups in the U.S. have been particularly critical of Mr. Obama's support for reforms regulating the health care and financial securities industries, as well as rules to curb pollution-causing carbon emissions.