WASHINGTON --- Eager to jump-start the economy before the midterm elections, President Obama said Friday he intends to unveil a new package of proposals, likely including tax cuts and targeted spending, to spark job growth.

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Obama spoke in the Rose Garden after the August jobs report came out better than expected, showing the private sector adding 67,000 jobs last month and revising upward the numbers from June and July. However, unemployment ticked up to 9.6 percent as more people entered the job market, and the president said it wasn't good enough.

"That's why we need to take further steps to create jobs and keep the economy growing, including extending tax cuts for the middle class and investing in the areas of our economy where the potential for job growth is greatest," Obama said. "We are confident that we are moving in the right direction, but we want to keep this recovery moving stronger and accelerate the job growth that's needed so desperately."

Administration officials say a big stimulus bill similar to last year's $814 billion measure is not in the offing. Nervous lawmakers looking to November's elections would not be expected to approve an expensive new measure.

Obama is likely to detail his ideas during a speech on the economy Wednesday in Cleveland, midway through an economy-focused week capped by a rare White House news conference.

Obama's package could include a number of provisions that have languished in Congress for much of the year, including infrastructure bonds for municipalities and extensions for a series of tax breaks for businesses and individuals that expired at the end of 2009. Democratic leaders are considering making permanent a tax break for businesses that invest in research and development.

They are also considering extending a law passed in March that exempts companies that hire unemployed workers from paying Social Security taxes on those workers through December. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has proposed extending the exemption six months.