“It’s almost two separate Americas,” he said, meaning that much of the work force is already seeing the return of work opportunities, while those mired in long-term joblessness are facing the worst prospects since the Great Depression. “They have been left behind, and their problems are not solved by recovery.”

In Beaumont, Calif., nearly two years have passed since Rebecca Miranda lost her job as a hospital recruiter, losing her paycheck of about $4,000 a month for a $1,500 monthly unemployment check.

A single mother of a 2-year-old girl, she is barely paying her bills, while worrying that her exile from the workplace has eroded her worth. “I’ve been out of work so long, I’m going to be the last kind of person they are going to hire,” she said.

President Obama greeted the jobs report while touring a Virginia company that produces software aimed at helping lower energy use. There, he highlighted his administration’s embrace of cleaner-burning ventures as a way to create jobs.

Image Job seekers are shown waiting to enter the UJA-Federation of New York’s job fair this week. Credit... Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

“The country that leads in clean energy and energy efficiency today, I’m absolutely convinced, is going to lead the global economy tomorrow,” he told reporters. “I want that country to be the United States of America.”

On Wall Street, investors welcomed the jobs report, and stocks rose over 1.2 percent on Friday.

Labor experts say the economy must add more than 100,000 jobs a month just to keep pace with new entrants to the work force, so even a sustained surge in hiring would leave joblessness and anxiety for years to come.