(DURHAM) -- President Obama visited North Carolina Monday to talk jobs. The President toured energy-efficient lighting manufacturer, Cree Inc. in Durham.  The President met with his 22-member Jobs and Competitiveness Council, made up of business and labor leaders with a mission of boosting economic growth.

"Right now, there are more than four job-seekers for every job opening in America.  But when it comes to science and high-tech fields, the opposite is true," said Obama. "The businesses represented here tell me they’re having a hard time finding high-skilled workers to fill their job openings."

The president announced what he called a "all hands on deck" approach to train additional workers in science and technology related fields.

While the economy continues to move in slow motion, and the public's frustration is starting to show in President Obama's poll numbers. North Carolina State University Economics Professor Dr. Mike Walden says one possible path to improvement is a review of the tax code.  "I favor a simplified tax code with lower rates for everone." says Walden. "Fewer deductions, fewer exceptions, make it so that people understand it."

Approximately 12-million Americans are unemployed, about 280-thousand in North Carolina, making the Tar Heel State the the tenth-highest unemployment rate in the United States.

It's a safe bet that the Obama Administration is committed to the Tar Heel State: in February The Democratic National Committee selected Charlotte as the site of it's 2012 national convention. Vice President Joe Biden visited Cree Inc. in March. The First Lady traveled to Camp Lejeune in April with Vice President Joe Biden's wife, Jill Biden. That visit was part of a national tour to showcase how communities are supporting America's military families. And Debbie Wasserman Schultz, party chair of the Democratic National Convention, made a stop in Raleigh to visit with Organizing America in May. Today, President Obama is in Durham to talk economy and jobs.

North Carolina is a bona fide battleground state in the 2012 race for the White House.