(Clarifies that Gibbs has not seen January jobs data in advance, adds background)
WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - A White House spokesman said on Thursday it was possible that a jobs report due on Friday could include a revision in monthly data showing more jobs were lost in the recession than previously been thought.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he was not making a prediction and had not seen official data in advance, but rather had read a news article that pointed to the possibility of a revision.
"There will be a jobs revision I'm told tomorrow that's likely to show additional job loss at the first part of the recession that started in December 2007, making the whole of job loss that we've dealt with even deeper," Gibbs said.
Pressed on the issue, he later made clear he had no access to official January jobs data to be released on Friday by the Labor Department. He said he had read a news article about the topic.
January monthly payrolls data, scheduled for release at 8.30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT) on Friday, is forecast to show a net 5,000 U.S. jobs were created last month but the rate of unemployment is seen creeping up to 10.1 percent.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, editing by Eric Walsh)