President Obama said today's bad jobs reports "confirms what most Americans already know: We still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do to give people the security and opportunity that they deserve."

"We've always known that we'd have ups and downs on our way back from this recession," Obama said during brief remarks in the White House Rose Garden.

After the Labor Department said the unemployment rate increased from 9.1% to 9.2% in June, Obama called on Congress to create construction jobs, speed patent approvals, approve free-trade agreements and extend this year's payroll tax cut into 2012.

Obama said the new report -- which cited paltry job growth of 18,000 in June -- proves the need for a deal to increase the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling while reducing federal spending, the subject of high-profile negotiations with Republicans.

"The American people need us to do everything we can to help strengthen this economy and make sure that we are producing more jobs," Obama said.

Republicans called the spike in unemployment an indictment of Obama's economic policies.

"Today's report is more evidence that the misguided 'stimulus' spending binge, excessive regulations and an overwhelming national debt continue to hold back private-sector job creation in our country," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Obama and congressional Republicans are scheduled to discuss the debt limit and deficit reduction Sunday.

The Republican presidential candidates weighed in on the jobs numbers (at Obama's expense), our On Politics blog reports.

At the White House, Obama cited five "headwinds" that have slowed job growth: a string of natural disasters across the globe, higher gas prices, state and local budget cuts, fiscal problems in Greece and the Euro zone, and concern about whether the government will default over failure to raise the debt ceiling.

The president reminded listeners he came into office in the midst of a recession and a financial meltdown. "The economic challenges that we face weren't created overnight," he said, "and they're not going to be solved overnight."

Austan Goolsbee, who chairs Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, cited a somewhat better number in the report: Private sector payrolls increased by 57,000 in June (offset by losses in government jobs).

"While the private sector has added 2.2 million jobs over the past 16 months, this month's report reflects the recent slowdown of economic growth due to headwinds faced in the first half of this year," Goolsbee said.

Congressional Democrats said Republicans have blocked Obama's efforts to revive the economy, including an increase in the $14.3 trillion debt limit needed to pay the government's bills.

"I hope the news that our economy is not creating jobs at an acceptable rate will cause Republicans to start taking job creation seriously," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "So far this year, Republicans have derailed every common-sense, bipartisan jobs bill we have brought to the floor."

The top Republicans on the House and Senate budget committees issued a joint statement saying Obama administration spending is the biggest jobs problem.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said, "The federal government's dramatic overspending and enormous debt burden are directly hurting job creation. Employers large and small know that today's excessive borrowing will be tomorrow's tax hikes and interest-rate increases. This lack of confidence in the future puts a chilling effect on hiring and investment right now."

The Associated Press reports: