Romer: Unemployment data shows recovery continues

White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairwoman Christina Romer on Friday said the Labor Department's report on the unemployed was better than expected as private-sector jobs increased by 67,000 in August.

"Against the backdrop of some unsettling economic data in the past few weeks, today's numbers are reassuring that growth and recovery are continuing," she stated in prepared remarks.

The Labor Department on Friday announced that the unemployment rate inched up to 9.6 percent in August, up from 9.5 percent in July.

The main contributor to the rate change was the government shedding 114,000 jobs as Census workers completed their work. Private-sector jobs continued to trend upward, adding 67,000 jobs last month.

Romer said that while the news is not as bleak as some expected, today's figures are lower than what is needed to grow the economy.

"There are a number of step[s] we could take to help increase private-sector job growth and put the economy on a path of steadily declining unemployment," she stated. "We will be working with Congress on these measures in the coming weeks."