New data showing that the number of unemployed Americans hit a 25-year high in February was yet more evidence of the depth of the U.S. recession, the White House said on Friday.

"There is no doubt that we have a long way to go to get this economy moving again and the job numbers are one more reminder of that," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters on Air Force One on the way to Ohio, where President Barack Obama is due to talk about his economic recovery plan.

Gibbs said the jobless figures were "obviously one more piece of evidence to demonstrate how deep of a recession we are in, and as the president has often said, it is going to get worse before it gets better."