Yesterday, Vice President Biden gave an upbeat assessment of the economy, saying the Recovery Act had exceeded expectations and created or saved between 500,000 and 750,000 jobs.

This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the national unemployment rate, after a slight decline last month, had increased again, from 9.4 to 9.7. "Although job losses continued in many of the major industry sectors in August, the declines have moderated in recent months," a BLS release states.

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 216,000 in August; since December 2007, employment has fallen by nearly 7 million. The overall number of "unemployed persons" increased by 466,000, to 14.9 million nationwide.

UPDATE: With President Obama still vacationing at Camp David, Biden will make a statement on the unemployment numbers at the start of a scheduled event on energy grants.