By Brai Odion-Esene

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Given the bigger role the housing market
normally plays in fueling past economic recoveries, the Obama
administration is looking “very hard” at measures to provide further
help to that struggling sector, a senior U.S. Treasury official said
Friday.

“We are very concerned about the housing market,” the Treasury
official told reporters during a briefing mainly focused on Friday’s
release of the October jobs report. The official noted that while there
has been some stabilization in housing prices, the market overall
continues to be a drag on the economy.

Asked if there is any expectation for another executive directive
similar to the one recently issued by President Obama — that led to an
expansion in the HARP mortgage refinance program Monday last week — the
official said the administration’s housing team “is looking very hard at
all opportunities to try to provide support to the economy and to the
housing sector in particular.”

With regard to October’s employment figures, “Our assessment is
that the recovery continues in labor market,” the official said, noting
that in addition to the 80,00 jobs the economy added in October,
“substantial” upward revisions were made to the jobs figures for
September and August.

September payrolls were revised to an increase of 158,000 from
103,000 previously reported, and August payrolls are now said to have
expanded by 104,000 from September’s revision of +57,000. The
unemployment rate dipped to 9.0% from 9.1% in September.

In his official comment on the jobs report, Alan Krueger, chairman
of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, said Friday’s employment report
was further evidence that the economy is continuing to recover from the
2008 to 2009 recession, “but the pace of improvement is not fast
enough.”

Although the private sector added 104,000 jobs last month, this is
less than the 191,000 reported in September, and the Treasury official
acknowledged to reporters that the government would like to see stronger
job growth in the private sector.

“We don’t want to lose sight of that fact that there are 14 million
workers that are unemployed in the United States, and an additional over
11 million who are marginally attached to the labor force or
underemployed in some way. That’s obviously of serious concern,” the
official said.

And while the administration has taken some steps on its own to
boost job creation, “that doesn’t change the need for legislation to try
to pass larger and substantive initiatives that require the cooperation
of both the Congress and the administration,” the official added.

The public sector shed 24,000 jobs last month after cutting 33,000
in September and the official said the employment picture would be
stronger without this drag from the fiscal struggles of state and local
governments.

“As the economy recovers, of course that will improve,” the
official said. “In the mean time it’s continued to be a real stress in
the labor market across the country.”

** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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