After More Job Losses, Democrats Move to Extend Benefits

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON — In the wake of further job losses in September, President Obama on Saturday called the new figures “sobering” and said that he was working with his economic advisers “to explore additional options to promote job creation.”

Mr. Obama suggested that a health care overhaul would help revive the economy and create jobs. The president’s remarks, in his weekly radio and Internet address, came as the White House and Congressional Democrats considered steps to help the unemployed, including extending enhanced unemployment benefits past December, continuing a tax credit for workers who have been laid off and extending a tax credit for first-time home buyers.

The jobless numbers, released by the Labor Department on Friday, showed that the unemployment rate for September had risen to 9.8 percent from 9.7 percent and that 263,000 jobs were lost last month.