The White House is really getting specific when it comes to the unemployment rate.

Rather than 8.3% -- the rounded-up figure -- Obama economic adviser Alan Krueger writes on the White House website that the real jobless rate is 8.254%.

"The household survey showed that the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3% in July (or, more precisely, the rate rose from 8.217% in June to 8.254% in July)," wrote Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

He added: "Acting BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) Commissioner John Galvin noted in his statement that the unemployment rate was 'essentially unchanged' from June to July."

We doubt that Republican Mitt Romney and his allies will draw that distinction.

"Today's increase in the unemployment rate is a hammer blow to struggling middle-class families," Romney said in a statement.

Other GOP members mocked Krueger for declaring the jobless rate at 8.254%.

Republican Party spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said, "23 million people struggling for work isn't a rounding error. And the White House's attempts to argue show just how out of touch they are."

Analysts said the (slightly) higher rate results from an increase in people re-entering the job market.

They also noted that the economy created 163,000 jobs in July, exceeding expectations.

"While there is more work that remains to be done, today's employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression," Krueger wrote.