White House touts job gains, drop in unemployment rate

WASHINGTON – The White House used Friday’s largely positive jobs report to make the case for sticking to the president’s economic policies and rejecting calls for a new path.

“While there is more work that remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression,” wrote Alan B. Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, in a blog post reacting to the report showing the unemployment rate had fallen to 7.8% in September.

Krueger noted that the rate was the lowest since January 2009, when President Obama took office, although he cautioned it is likely to be revised.

Still, he cast the report as evidence that the president’s policies are working.

“It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007,” he wrote.

The monthly report was certainly welcome news for the president’s reelection campaign, which is still trying find its footing after Obama’s weak performance in Wednesday’s debate.

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But the numbers are unlikely to change the basic contours of most voters’ views about the economy, something most experts note has been set.

Obama is expected to address the new report at a rally in Virginia later Friday.

Krueger called on Congress to extend tax cuts on middle-class taxpayers, pass Obama housing proposals and return to his jobs bill – all proposals that have been sidelined until after the election.

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kathleen.hennessey@latimes.com
@khennessey