The White House cheered Friday's job report in which the nation gained 255,000 jobs in July, noting that the numbers had beaten analysts' expectations, but conceding that "more work needs to be done."

"U.S. businesses have now added 15 million jobs since private-sector job growth turned positive in early 2010, and the longest streak of total job growth on record continued in July," said Jason Furman, chairman of the White House's Council of Economic Advisors.

"So far in 2016, job growth has averaged a solid 186,000 jobs a month, well above the pace needed to maintain a low and stable unemployment rate, and nominal hourly earnings for private employees have increased at an annual rate of nearly 3 percent so far in 2016, much faster than the pace of inflation."

Furman was using the nation's lowest point since Obama took office as the basis of measurement for the total jobs gained. However, the total number of jobs added since Obama took office in 2009 is less than 9 million.

Democrats echoed Furman's argument. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., said it showed that "under President Obama and his administration, we have experienced consistent economic gains."

"[T]his progress serves as a great foundation to continue the work needed to support working people across the nation. By building on this progress, we will make it possible for all families to achieve economic stability and share in the progress we have made," said Scott, the top-ranking Democrat on the Education and the Workforce Committee.

The Labor Department's report found that nation's unemployment rate remained stuck at 4.9 percent despite the payroll increase. The total number of unemployed, defined as people out of work but actively looking for it, remained unchanged from the previous month at 7.8 million, about the same level it has been for the past year. Nevertheless, the increase in jobs for July beat forecasters' predictions.

Business groups were cautiously optimistic. "[T]he country has averaged 273,500 net new workers over the past two months, a decent jump over the 151,000 average seen over the first five months of 2016. This suggests that employers have begun to hire again despite continued cautiousness and lingering weaknesses in the global macroeconomy," said the National Association of Manufacturers.

Scott tacitly acknowledged in his statement that the recovery remains sluggish, pointing to the fact that the committee recently passed legislation intended to boost career and technical education legislation. "I am optimistic that when we return, we can continue in that spirit of bipartisanship to better ensure that hardworking Americans and their families have the opportunity to prosper," he said.

Furman used the report as an occasion to push for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a controversial trade deal with 12 Pacific Rim nations that the administration wants Congress to vote on. Many Democrats, prodded by organized labor, environmental groups and other other liberal activists, oppose the deal and key Republicans has been skeptical as well. A vote is not likely to happen until after the election.

"[M]ore work remains to sustain faster wage growth and to ensure that the benefits of the recovery are broadly shared, including investing in infrastructure, implementing the high-standards Trans-Pacific Partnership, raising the minimum wage and guaranteeing access to paid parental leave," Furman said.