Biden to push job training on visit to New Hampshire next week

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden will visit New Hampshire next week to promote ways to improve job-training skills. While Biden's visit to the early voting state is likely to prompt speculation that he is thinking about a presidential race in 2016, his trip is in line with a request to him from President Barack Obama to lead an across-the-board reform of America's training programs. The vice president's office said Biden will hold an event in Nashua highlighting "workforce development and the value of on-the-job training opportunities". Biden will be joined in New Hampshire by Labor Secretary Tom Perez. Ways to train workers for jobs in today's economy will be the subject of their event. "The vice president and Secretary Perez will visit New Hampshire to highlight how the state has one of the most successful on-the-job training programs in the country," said an administration official. New Hampshire holds the nation's first presidential primary and is a regular stop for aspiring candidates. Biden has expressed interest in running in 2016 in the race to choose a successor to President Barack Obama but is said to be waiting to see whether Democrat Hillary Clinton decides to run. (Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Stephen Powell)