President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Democrats and Republicans to work together to solve the jobs crisis facing the US, asking lawmakers on both sides to put aside partisan divisions that have hindered progress on issues such as healthcare and pass a new jobs package.

Inviting Congressional leaders from both parties to the White House – the first time Republican leaders have met the president there for more than two months – Mr Obama urged them to keep the public’s needs at the forefront of their minds. Creating jobs is seen as an area where both parties can find some common ground.

“My hope is is that both in the House and the Senate we’ll see some packages moving over the next several weeks that can provide a jump-start to hiring and start lowering the unemployment rate,” Mr Obama said on Tuesday, adding that a jobs strategy that encourages small business to hire, for example through lower taxes, was an area that Republicans and Democrats should be able to agree upon.

Although the US economy is beginning to recover, jobs are not coming back at the same pace. Although the unemployment rate fell to 9.7 per cent last month, there were still 20,000 jobs lost during January.

The economic difficulties faced by ordinary Americans are the key cause of dissatisfaction with the Obama administration, but the surveys show the public is also unimpressed with the partisan bickering that is rife in Washington, exacerbated by disagreements over healthcare reform in particular.

The need for a bipartisan approach has grown stronger since Scott Brown , the new senator for Massachusetts, was sworn in last week, giving Republicans the 41 votes they need to block any legislation going through the Senate.

Despite snow that has brought Washington, DC, to a halt, the president was joined in the White House by Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, and Steny Hoyer and John Boehner, the majority and minority leaders respectively. Also present were Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell, the Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate respectively, and Christina Romer and Peter Orszag, White House economic advisors.

“I think it’s fair to say that the American people are frustrated with the lack of progress on some key issues,” the president told them. “And although the parties are not going to agree on every single item, there should be some areas where we can agree and we can get some things done, even as we have vigorous debates on some of those issues that we don’t agree on.”

Senators Charles Schumer, a Democrat of New York, and Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, have put forward the idea of giving businesses that hire new workers this year a tax credit, saying they should have their 6.2 per cent share of the Social Security payroll tax refunded.

Mr Obama has been receptive to the idea, but has also suggested giving a $5,000 tax break for businesses that hire new workers, or increase wages or hours for existing employees, this year.

At Tuesday’s White House meeting, Mr Obama also said that getting the deficit and debt under control should be an issue where both parties could work together.

“I have put forward the idea of a fiscal commission, and I’m going to be discussing both with my Democratic and Republican colleagues how we can get that moving as quickly as possible so that we can start taking some concrete action,” the president said.