White House: No need for 2nd economic stimulus yet

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday the U.S. economic stimulus package passed earlier this year was still having an impact and it was not yet necessary to consider a second one, despite a sharp jump in unemployment in August.

"The economic stimulus plan that we put in place is having the strong impact that we wanted it to have," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "One of the keys of that stimulus package was that it be stimulative. And we don't think that we need to consider a second stimulus right now."

The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly shot up to 6.1 percent in August, an almost five-year high, as employers cut payrolls for an eighth straight month and labor markets showed signs of accelerating decline. The Labor Department said 84,000 jobs were lost in August.

"There's no question that the labor market is not as strong as we'd like and these were disappointing numbers. We want to see the economy return to job growth and we understand that this is a difficult time for many Americans," Perino said.

She said despite the poor unemployment numbers, other data shows signs of economic recovery, including a strong 3.3 percent economic growth rate in the second quarter, good productivity figures and rising exports.

(Editing by Leslie Adler)