'[T[he least of my concerns at the moment is the politics of a year from now,' Obama says. Obama: Jobs numbers 'positive'

In economic news on Friday that President Barack Obama called “positive” but said shows the economy is still growing much too slowly, the unemployment rate ticked down to 9 percent in October, while the country added a less-than-expected 80,000 jobs last month.

The job growth was the most anemic its been in past four months and the U.S. created only about half of the number of jobs that were added in September. Private sector employment increased by 104,000 in October, while government jobs continued a downward trend, reporting a loss of 24,000 positions, according to the Labor Department.


Speaking from the G20 summit in Cannes, France, Obama said the October jobs numbers “were positive, but indicate once against that the economy’s growing way too slowly.”

“I’m worried about putting people back to work right now because those folks are hurting and the U.S. economy is under-performing,” he said.

Asked where he believes the economy will be a year from now when he is running for reelection, Obama responded, “I have to tell you, the least of my concerns at the moment is the politics of a year from now,” and urged Congress to pass components of his jobs bill, saying he hopes lawmakers will “think twice before they vote no again.”

Economists had forecast that 100,000 to 125,000 jobs would be created last month and that the jobless rate would remain at 9.1 percent - where it had been stuck for the past three months. But the less-than expected addition of 80,000 still resulted in a dip in the unemployment rate as nonfarm payroll for August was revised upward from 57,000 additional jobs to 104,000, while jobs added for September was tweaked from 103,000 to 158,000.

Comerical Bank chief economist Robert Dye said chances of the U.S. economy slipping back into a recession is now lower, although the sovereign debt problems in Europe look like a “black hole” that could drag down global growth.

“We were right at the tipping point through September,” he said. “We now take a step back from the edge, to 40 percent. This is still elevated. We are not out of the woods yet.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell in Friday morning trading by 155 points, a 1.29 percent loss.

The jobless rate declined for blacks (to 15.1 percent from 16 percent), while the rates for adult men (unchanged at 8.8 percent) and women (to 8 percent from 8.1), teenagers (to 24.1 percent from 24.6), whites (unchanged at 8 percent) and Hispanics (to 11.4 percent from 11.3 percent) showed little or no change.

Business services employment trended upward, adding 32,000 jobs in October, while health care employment also continued to expand, gaining 12,000 jobs following the 45,000 addition in September. Jobs in leisure and hospitality saw a small spike, adding 22,000 jobs.

Construction jobs fell by 20,000 in October, offsetting the 27,000 that were added the previous month. The manufacturing sector, which has been flat for three months, continued to see little change in October, adding just 5,000 jobs.

The broader U6 unemployment rate, which includes part-time workers who want to be full-time and other measures, dipped to 16.2 percent from 16.5 percent in September.

Labor Department Secretary Hilda Solis touted October’s jobs data, saying on CNBC Friday morning, “I just want to reiterate that what we’re seeing here is that there is growth.”

The revised jobs numbers for September and August demonstrated that there is “confidence” in the economy, she said, adding that “people are spending money and we see [growth] almost across the board with the exception of the public sector.”

Solis refused to comment on whether the unemployment rate could come down to 8 percent by Election Day 2012, and called on Congress to pass parts of Obama’s jobs bill. “If Congress moves with this, if we can collaborate on things, we should do that,” she said.

But Republicans were quick to downplay the slight decline in unemployment. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said in a statement Friday morning that the jobs numbers “show little improvement,” and called on Obama to push the Senate to vote on the jobs bills that the House has passed.

Without mentioning October’s jobless rate, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) also called on Senate Democrats in a statement to pass the House GOP’s jobs bills.

“At a time when these bipartisan jobs bills are stalled in the Senate, it is unacceptable for the White House to be anything less than 100 percent engaged in the legislative process,” Boehner said. “More than two years after the ‘stimulus’ was enacted, the American people are still asking the question, ‘Where are the jobs?’”

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann conceded that the economy “grew modestly” last quarter, but called the 9 percent unemployment rate “stubbornly high.”

Meanwhile, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus used the monthly data to hit Obama for spending the month of October “on the campaign trail” while Americans “endured another month of unacceptably high unemployment.”

The last time the unemployment rate dipped below 9 percent was in March, when the government reported an 8.8 percent rate. Since April, unemployment has remained at 9 percent or higher, peaking at 9.2 percent in June.

In September, the U.S. economy added a better-than-expected 103,000 jobs, slightly easing concerns about the economy spiraling downturn.

- Josh Boak contributed to this report.