A slightly better-than-expected June jobs report prompted mixed reactions in Washington, as the White House hailed the positive jobs growth and Republicans searched for flaws in the estimate.
The economy added an estimated 195,000 jobs in June, according to the monthly report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday morning. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.6 percent, though the report was highlighted by the jobs figure, which outpaced most forecasters' estimates.
(Read More: Job Growth Posts Large Gain in June)
"The economy has now added private sector jobs for 40 consecutive months, and a total of 7.2 million jobs has been added over that period," said Alan Krueger, the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. "In spite of monthly volatility, over the past three years the pace of job growth has increased each year. So far this year 1.23 million private sector jobs have been added," he said.
To be sure, the report on Friday offered a modest political boon to President Barack Obama. Despite dire warnings about the effect of the ongoing sequester—the automatic, indiscriminate cuts to federal spending that were enacted earlier this year—the economy continues to add jobs, though not at the type of robust pace that would be needed to further reduce the unemployment rate.