National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett says higher long-term rates can reflect underlying economic strength. Speaking to Mike McKee and Dani Burger on Bloomberg Open Interest, Hassett calls the government’s debt-interest burden unacceptably high but says the administration is serious about deficit reduction. His comments come after the September jobs report showed payrolls rose just 29,000, unemployment edged up to 4.2%, and July and August payrolls were revised down by a combined 60,000.