Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s administration is accelerating plans to boost job growth, including more spending on infrastructure and business tax cuts, after the unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent last month.

Obama and his advisers will within a matter of weeks review ideas for adding to the $787 billion stimulus passed earlier this year, an administration official said. Previously the president’s aides said they wanted to wait for the full impact of the earlier stimulus before taking additional action.

“My economic team is looking at ideas such as additional investments in our aging roads and bridges, incentives to encourage families and businesses to make buildings more energy efficient,” additional tax cuts to spur hiring, and more steps to ease the flow of credit to small business, Obama said today at the White House following the Labor Department report.

The president made his remarks after signing into law a measure extending an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and benefits for unemployed workers, the first major expansion of provisions that were included in February’s economic stimulus. The legislation also provides tax refunds to money- losing companies.

Employers have shed 7.3 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, 3.5 million of those since Obama took office in January. Obama called the October jobs report “a sobering number that underscores the challenge that lies ahead.”

Higher Still

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said at a later briefing that the administration expects the unemployment rate will get “a little worse before it gets better.”

The jobless rate carries political peril for Obama if the figure remains high in the months preceding the mid-term congressional elections a year from now.

The economy was listed as the most important issue facing the country by 47 percent of the American public in a CNN poll conducted Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, surpassing health care and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Although it will take time and will take patience, I’m confident that our economy will recover,” Obama said.

The legislation Obama signed will funnel an estimated $45 billion into the economy this year. The bill would extend until April 30 the tax credit for first-time homebuyers that would otherwise expire at the end of this month.

Extra Benefits

The jobless would get as many as 20 additional weeks of unemployment assistance. Companies would be given expanded ability to apply losses to previous years’ income, allowing them to qualify this year for $33 billion in tax refunds, according to Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation.

The 10.2 percent jobless rate in October is a 26-year high, up from 9.8 percent in September. The Labor Department said employers cut 190,000 jobs last month, more than the 175,000 expected by economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The jobless rate exceeded 10 percent for the first time since 1983.

Gibbs said Obama is asking his economic advisers for ideas that can create jobs quickly rather than waiting for the $787 billion February stimulus to run its course next year.

Obama said he wants to “build on” the measure he signed today “with further steps to grow our economy in the future.” While the administration didn’t release specific proposals, many of the measures Obama outlined today, spending on roads and bridges and incentives to conserve energy, were part of the February stimulus package.

With the fiscal 2009 deficit hitting a record $1.4 trillion and next year’s deficit forecast to be almost the same, Obama administration officials and Democratic leaders in Congress have expressed reluctance about pushing for a second stimulus.

Obama said the measure he signed won’t add to the deficit.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kate Andersen Brower in Washington at Kandersen7@bloomberg.net; Roger Runningen in Washington at rrunningen@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 6, 2009 15:37 EST