WASHINGTON — President Obama will convene a White House summit early next month to explore ways to reverse the soaring unemployment rate -- and there won't be any shortage of ideas.

Economists and lawmakers hope that such proposals as tax breaks for companies that add workers, tax cuts for small businesses and more government highway construction will get renewed attention after Obama's call Thursday for new ways to reverse job losses.

But the administration and its allies in Congress are facing another shortage -- time.

Economic and political concerns are rising after the unemployment rate hit 10.2% last month, reaching double digits for the first time in 26 years. With congressional midterm elections looming next year and thousands more jobs being lost each week, Washington must act quickly to get new programs in place.

Addressing those worries before departing for Asia on Thursday, Obama said he was open to "any demonstrably good idea" to stimulate job creation.

"We all know that there are limits to what government can and should do, even during such difficult times," he said, alluding to the concerns about the soaring budget deficit. "But we have an obligation to consider every additional, responsible step that we can to encourage and accelerate job creation in this country."

Obama said he would gather chief executives, small-business owners, economists, labor leaders and others to discuss ways to create jobs and grow the economy. The move comes as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told colleagues this week that he planned to push a job-creation bill in the coming weeks, as soon as the Senate finished debating and voting on healthcare legislation.

The jobless rate has continued to climb even as gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced in the country, is growing robustly again. So reducing the rate is a "critical imperative," Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said.

"The recovery for the American family is not measured in GDP," he said. "It's measured in jobs."

Reed has been pushing legislation to expand work-share programs, which exist in California and 16 other states. The initiatives entice companies to cut workers' hours instead of laying them off, using a percentage of the unemployment benefits the workers would have claimed to make up the difference in wages.

It's one of several ideas floating around Washington in recent months to address unemployment directly.