Alan Krueger, the Treasury's Chief Economist and Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, on Friday told reporters recent indicators suggest the economy is moving as the Obama administration expected. 

"The improvement we have seen in the economy is on track with the administration's outlook for the year," he said. 

Krueger's comments came on the heels of news that the economy added 431,000 jobs in May, but nearly all of them were temporary workers hired by the Census Bureau. The private sector added 41,000 workers, according to the Labor Department.

Krueger admitted that the gain in permanent jobs was smaller than expected and said job growth would not be consistent given the severity of the recent recession. 

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on family issues, will hold a hearing June 10 on possible policy responses to long-term unemployment.

While the economy is showing signs of improvement, nearly 46 percent of all unemployed workers have been without a job for over six months, a record high since the statistic was created in 1948.

McDermott claims over 10 million jobs need to be created to restore the labor market to pre-recession levels and stresses that extensions to unemployment insurance need to continue until the job scene is greatly improved.

The growth of the job market is still going to take some time despite signs of a steadily growing economy, a top administration official said Thursday. 

"The economy has been growing now for four quarters, and you've seen in the last five to six months a pretty steady gradual increase in the amount of jobs the private sector is creating and all the indicators suggest that its getting stronger," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday in a CNBC interview. 

"Now, it's not going to be even, it's not going to be steady, it's still going to take awhile."

Jobs numbers for May will be out Friday morning and are expected to reflect a more than 500,000 job gain, although many of those jobs are tied to temporary hiring for the Census. 

An increase in consumer confidence should continue to bolster the strength of the private sector and private demand and investment, he said. 

"You're seeing that starting to translate into longer hours worked, more jobs created and, therefore, stronger income growth for the average American," Geithner said. 

On the eve of the release of May employment figures, nearly 30 percent of all U.S. workers are reporting that their companies were hiring last month. 

U.S. employment hit the highest level in 19 months, with 28 percent of employees reporting their companies are hiring, up 5 percentage points since January. Meanwhile, 21 percent said their firms were letting people go, down three percentage points, according to Gallup's Job Creation Index, released this week. 

Friday's jobs report could reflect an increase of more than 500,000 jobs in May. 

The poll also shows positive trends in all regions of the country, with the South reporting the strongest conditions — hiring reached 31 percent, up 10 percentage points, and firing hit 21 percent. The South benefits from the energy industry but that situation could change based on the economic effects of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 

President Barack Obama on Thursday issued a $69 million bill to oil giant BP for response and recovery operations related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 

The president will continue to bill the company to ensure that the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is fully reimbursed.  

House Republican Conference Vice Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) on Thursday criticized Democratic leaders for failing to construct a budget as the debt limit on Wednesday soared above $13 trillion. 

"We can no longer assume that government spending and borrowing are problems that will take care of themselves," she said in prepared remarks. "The budget situation has changed and Congress must change with it. A good first step would be for the Majority to put forward a budget." 

The Treasury Department on Thursday announced it has issued $106 billion in Build America Bonds, through May 31, 2010. 

The bonds now constitute 21 percent of the municipal bond market. 

Speedway Convenience Stores sent an additional 1.7 million signatures to lawmakers on Thursday as part of a petition to reform credit and debit card swipe fees. 

Today's action brings the total to 5.4 million signatures, the largest number ever collected for a public policy petition. 

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R) applauded the efforts by BP and the federal government to move ahead with a barrier island proposal to slow the spread of oil to the coastline. 

"This is very positive, if long overdue," Vitter said in a statement Thursday. "I'm happy the president finally heard our plea to cut through the bureaucratic red tape."

The next challenge for the plan is to get the Army Corps of Engineers and other groups involved to move quickly on the dredging to create the barriers. 

"I'll be pushing the Corps extremely hard on this," Vitter said.