WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama on Monday stressed that cutting the government's deficit should not hamper investment on key areas that were critical to the nation's sustainable growth.

Speaking at Northern Virginia Community College in Virginia after the White House unveiled its 2013 fiscal year budget proposal, Obama said that the United States needed to invest in sectors that would help grow the economy.

Obama on Monday announced a new 8-billion-dollar job training initiative to train two million qualified workers for good-paying jobs, part of his new budget proposal.

The nation should work on an economy that was built to last and everyone should get a fair shot, he added.