Washington: Keeping the November two elections in mind, US President George W Bush has said that the answer to loss of some jobs due to outsourcing to countries like India was to create more skilled jobs at home.

"There are still some people looking for work because of the recession. There are people looking for work because jobs have gone overseas. And we need to act in this country. We need to act to make sure that there are more jobs at home and people are more likely to retain a job," Bush said while speaking at the Central Dauphin High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania yesterday (Feb 12, 2004).

The jobs of the 21st century, he said, "Are going to require a lot. People have to have the capacity to think. It used to be, crank somebody out of high school, and if they could run a backhoe, that is going to be fine. There is nothing wrong with backhoe drivers, we are going to need them. But we are also going to need computer programmers or people working with health sciences."

This is the first time Bush has said that people are looking for work in the US partly because "jobs have gone overseas".

The Chairman of President's Council of Economic Advisors, Prof N Gregory Mankiw has supported outsourcing to countries like India. This view has recieved support from various business houses like Hewlett-Packard and media.