With the American economic recovery showing clear signs of slowdown, private employers added 67,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department said on Friday. The number was more than forecast.

Over all, the nation lost 54,000 jobs in August, the agency said, as state and local governments, many of them grappling with severe budget deficits, cut 1o,000 jobs last month. Another 114,000 temporary Census positions also came to an end. In all, governments cut 121,000 jobs last month.

The unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent in July.

Economists had forecast that the overall, nonfarm payrolls would decline 105,000 in August, with private employers adding 41,000 jobs.

The numbers for July were also revised, with 54,000 jobs lost, rather than the 131,000 in the initial estimate. And the private sector added 107,000 jobs, rather than 71,000.

President Obama on Monday said his administration was weighing new steps to bolster the economy, but any measures are likely to be small. His options are limited given that Congress has shown little appetite for more spending before the midterm elections in November, in which Republicans are hoping to reclaim both the Senate and the House.

Republicans have said that the unemployment rate remains high because the president’s stimulus spending as well as his overhauls of health care and the financial industry are a drag on the recovery. Mr. Obama and Democrats have been emphasizing that the recovery is moving in the right direction, albeit at a slow pace. The president has chided Senate Republicans for holding up a jobs bill that would offer tax breaks to small businesses and ease credit with a $30 billion initiative to channel loans through community banks.

In any case, the report on Friday provided the latest evidence that the recovery was proceeding at an uneven pace. Last week, the Commerce Department revised its estimate for growth in the second quarter down to an annual rate of 1.6 percent, from 2.4 percent. The consensus on the outlook for the second half of the year is growth of 1.5 to 2.5 percent, substantially less than what is needed for the recovery to pick up steam.

(Source: NY Times)