- President Barack Obama laid out a $450 billion jobs plan in a speech late Thursday, saying the plan has elements pleasing to both Democrats and Republicans and that it will not add to the U.S.’s budget deficit.

Ahead of the speech, as the Asian trading session started, gold prices were firmer from the Comex close, trading around $1,864 an ounce.
Immediately after the speech ended prices rose about $2 an ounce, to around $1,866.

Obama spoke to Congress in the House of Representatives chamber, a stage usually reserved for major policy speeches, such as the State of Union address. Stakes are high for the president, whose approval ratings are at record lows, with the unemployment rate hovering around 9.1%.

Obama suggested spending on public works to employ construction workers and more state funding to help public schools. He also called on retaining the reduced payroll tax for workers and for small businesses to see a reduction in their payroll taxes. He also cited the need for help for homeowners to refinance their mortgages, especially with long-term rates near 4%. The bursting of the housing bubble was one of the major causes of the 2008 recession and continues to be a drag on the U.S. economy.

“This will not add to the deficit,” Obama said, calling on the deficit-cutting committee to find further cost savings to help pay for part of the plan. He also renewed his call for increasing taxes on the wealth and closing some corporate loopholes.

Obama said next week he will lay out a plan to stabilize the debt for the long-term by suggesting changes to the tax code. “We need a tax code where everyone gets a fair shake and everyone pays their fair share,” he said.

Several times he called on Congress to pass his jobs bill, stressing that the bill includes ideas that have been approved by both Democrats and Republicans. By doing that he highlighted the rancorous political debate going on in Washington lately. “Millions of Americans don’t care about politics. They have real-life concerns,” he said.