mike vicara is at the white house for us mike? >> reporter: almost 15 million americans are looking for work. but the economy is slowly recovering. as the president prepares to address the nation on tuesday night, he is putting a renewed focus on jobs and growth. in a pre state of the union message to supporters, the president left no doubt about the theme of tuesday's address. >> my principle focus, my number one focus is going to be making sure that we are competitive and that we are going and creating jobs not just now but well into the future. >> that focus is evident in nearly every recent public appearance by the president with new emphasis on competing on markets abroad and give ing jolt to a slow economy. >> the next two years, our job now is putting our economy into over drive. >> after attacking business for much of the last year, mr. obama is trying to mend fences. his new chief of staff is a former commerce secretary with close ties to wall street. i named jeff immelt to the staff. the president has issued a new direct

nbc's mike vicara is at the white house today. mike? >> reporter: tonight the white house called for restraint in egypt while insisting that the time for reform within the egyptian government is now. outside the white house -- >> stop! >> reporter: a few protesters gathered in a show of solidarity with those in cairo. inside the president met with top members of his foreign policy team after speaking with president mubarak by phone friday night and publicly urging him to enact immediate reforms. >> what's needed now is concrete steps that advance the rights of the people in egypt. meaningful dialogue between the government and its citizens. >> reporter: mubarak's move to oust his cabinet did not go far enough. the state department spokesman tweeting -- but while the president has sided with the protesters in their call for greater freedoms, he has stopped short of backing demand for mubarak's ouster. >> if mubarak is going to survive, the united states can't do too much to an tal nice him. because he is going to be our partner hopefully