Obama links unemployment to debt ceiling

"Over the last couple of days, the debate here in Washington has been dominated by issues of debt limit," the president said, adding that what matters most to him is getting the economy "on a sounder footing."

But he went on to link a deal on the debt ceiling to the prospect of a lower unemployment rate.

"The sooner we get this done, the sooner that the markets know that the debt limit ceiling will have been raised and that we have a serious plan to deal with our debt and deficit, the sooner that we give our businesses the certainty that they will need in order to make additional investments to grow and hire," Obama said.