Jobless rate too high but no recession: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The sharp jump in the U.S. unemployment rate in May to its highest in 3-1/2 years is "too high for our liking" but represents slow growth, not a recession, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said on Friday.

"This isn't a report that we wanted to see today," Stanzel told reporters after the Labor Department said the jobless rate rose to 5.5 percent last month from 5 percent in April, to its highest since October 2004.

"5.5 is a number that is too high in our view, but it is lower than the average in the last three decades," Stanzel said. He said Bush administration economists said May's jobless rate rose due to new job seekers, including teenagers, and "not from a broad increase in layoffs."

The U.S. economy was growing, albeit slowly, and therefore the situation could not be defined as a recession, he said.

"It is slow growth, but it is still positive," said Stanzel.

Asked whether the administration would consider extending unemployment benefits, he said: "I'm not going to get into hypotheticals about extensions."

(Reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by James Dalgleish)