Members of the Congressional Black Caucus pressed President Barack Obama on job creation during a private White House meeting Thursday.

“The CBC expressed to the President the importance of immediately identifying resources available for investment for critical programs that serve vulnerable communities,” according to a statement issued by the CBC after the meeting.

The White House said after the meeting that “the President recognizes that too many American families are still hurting and the unemployment rate is unacceptably high — especially among African Americans.”

The White House statement did not lay out any new policy ideas. It pointed to a partnership among the Labor Department, business leaders and public-private partnerships to publicize job openings for low-income youth, as well as tax incentives for investing and hiring in economically distressed areas.

Obama was a CBC member during his time in the Senate. But the caucus has been disappointed by the administration’s proposed budget cuts to a variety of assistance programs.

Some CBC members have also been frustrated by a lack of contact with the White House. Thursday’s meeting was the first between the full CBC and the president, the caucus said.

Assistant Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.), a CBC member, is participating in a bipartisan Congressional panel led by Vice President Joseph Biden that is discussing deficit-reduction legislation.

The president met last week with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which called on the president to take up immigration reform.