U.S. President Barack Obama will urge business leaders next week to keep jobs at home rather than outsourcing their industries abroad.

Mr. Obama announced in his weekly online address that he will host a forum at the White House on Wednesday. He will meet with business leaders, who are setting an example of “insourcing” jobs.

The president is hoping other businesses will follow the “insourcing” model.

The announcement comes a day after the U.S. government announced the economy had a net gain of 200,000 jobs in December.

The push for creating jobs in the U.S. falls in line with the emphasis Mr. Obama continues to put on the American middle class, who could play a key role in getting the president re-elected later this year.

Friday's report from the Labor Department says the jobless rate dropped to the lowest level since early 2009. The unemployment rate fell two-tenths of one percent to hit 8.5 percent last month.

All of the job gains were in the private sector, particularly transportation, retail, manufacturing, and health care. Employment continued falling in state and local governments which cut another 12,000 jobs.

This is the sixth month in a row that the economy has gained at least 100,000 jobs, but those gains have not yet made up for the eight million jobs lost during the recession. High unemployment has made the economy a key issue in this year's presidential election campaign.

U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the improved job picture, saying 2011 saw more employment gains than any year since 2005. But he also said millions of American are still out of work, and many families and small businesses “are hurting.” In a Washington speech Friday, Mr. Obama said “we still have work to do.”