The U.S. labor market tends to be one of the last parts of the economy to recover from recession, a top White House adviser said on Friday after the release of higher unemployment figures.

We have been through absolutely the ringer but we do feel we're on the right trajectory, Christina Romer, head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told MSNBC television after the August payroll report showed a jump in the unemployment rate to 9.7 percent, but with fewer job losses than expected.

(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick)