WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is considering steps to ease the burdens of laid-off workers, including possible extensions of unemployment and health benefits, officials said yesterday.

The administration has stopped short of calling for a second economic stimulus package to augment the $787 billion measure approved this year. But with the jobless rate continuing to climb, President Obama said yesterday he is exploring "additional options to promote job creation," such as extending enhanced unemployment-insurance benefits beyond Dec. 31, when they are set to expire, and extending a tax credit for first-time home buyers that also is set to expire soon.

The administration has discussed these possibilities with congressional leaders, officials said, but no decisions have been made.

In his weekly radio and Internet video address yesterday, Obama said his proposed health care overhaul would create jobs by making small-business startups more affordable. If aspiring entrepreneurs believe they can stay insured while switching jobs, he said, they will start new businesses and hire workers.

"I hear about it from small-business owners who want to grow their companies and hire more people, but they can't because they can barely afford to insure the employees they have," Obama said. "One small-business owner wrote to me that health care costs are, and I quote, 'stifling my business growth.' He said that the money he wanted to use for research and development, and to expand his operations, has instead been 'thrown into the pocket of health care insurance carriers.' "

Dismissive Republicans blamed the continuing job losses on Democratic policies and said the president's health proposals won't help.

The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, the highest since June 1983, as employers cut far more jobs than expected.

Obama praised the Senate Finance Committee for crafting a health care bill that includes many of his priorities. Small businesses could buy health insurance through an exchange, he said, "where they can compare the price, quality and services of a wide variety of plans."

In the weekly Republican address, Rep. Candice Miller of Michigan said the original Obama-backed economic stimulus package fell far short of its goals. She criticized a House-passed energy bill that would set limits and costs on greenhouse gas emissions.