Obama says 9.8 percent jobless rate a sobering reminder of hard task of reversing recession

Obama: New jobless number a sobering reminder

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is calling the latest jobless figures a sobering reminder that progress to reverse the recession comes in fits and starts.

He says the new unemployment numbers also serve as a reminder that the country needs to “grind out this recovery step by step.”

Obama made the comments after the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September as employers cut more jobs than expected.

The president says employment is often the last indicator to show that a recession is over, and he is promising that his administration is doing everything it can to accelerate that process.