OAKDALE, Pa. — Emphasizing skills training as key to a growing middle class, President Obama on Wednesday unveiled $600 million in competitive grants to spur creation of targeted training and apprenticeship programs to help people land good-paying jobs.
‘‘When it comes to training our workers, not all of today’s good jobs require a four-year college degree,’’ Obama said. ‘‘But I promise you, there’s not a job out there that’s going to pay a lot if you don’t have some specialized training.’’
With the economy recovering and unemployment still stubbornly high at 6.7 percent, Obama portrayed skills training as critical to keeping the US competitive edge in a global economy that has rapidly changing technology.
Obama revealed two programs, the larger of which will put nearly $500 million toward a job-training competition run by the Labor Department and designed to encourage community colleges and industry to work together to create training programs for the jobs employers need to fill.
Under the second program, the Labor Department will put an additional $100 million in grants toward rewarding partnerships that expand apprenticeship programs.