WASHINGTON: The White House on Tuesday said its policies have paid off with the US growing faster than other advanced economies, but added that many Americans still struggle with low wages.

In a summary of progress in 2014, Jason Furman, chairman of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, said the rebound from the 2008-2009 Great Recession gained pace this year and passed several key milestones.

"American businesses set a new record for the most consecutive months of job growth: Now 57 straight months and counting," he said in an official blog post.

"By November, the economy had already added more jobs than in any full calendar year since the 1990s."

Furman said that a large part of the new jobs have been in higher-paying industries and are mostly full-time, rather than part-time, positions.

However, he noted, "Despite this progress, it is still too hard for many families to get ahead."

"Further reductions in long-term unemployment and faster wage growth are still needed, but the data from 2014 show that trends are clearly moving in the right direction."

The Obama administration's sunny self-assessed report card that accompanied Furman's blog post credited the president's policies since he took office in January 2009 in the depths of economic crisis.

It noted the fall in the unemployment rate to 5.8 percent this year, down 1.2 percentage points from a year ago, was faster than almost anyone had projected.

That came on the back of an average 241,000 jobs created per month since the year began, and a surprising 321,000 in November alone.

It also cited the slashing of the US budget deficit by two-thirds to 2.8 percent of gross domestic product, below the 40-year average.

"The United States has come further in its recovery than most other advanced economies around the world, in part because of the president's aggressive policy response," Furman said.

"To build on this progress, the president will continue to push for steps that support further growth of middle-class jobs and reward those who work hard and play by the rules, including investments in infrastructure, reforms to the business tax code and immigration system, expanded overseas markets for America's goods and services, and an increase in the minimum wage," he said.

Meanwhile, US housing starts fell in November as groundbreaking for single-family homes declined after two hefty increases, in what appeared to be a brief pause in a gradual recovery trend.

Starts dropped 1.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.028 million units, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. October's starts were revised up to a 1.045 million-unit pace.

Despite November's fall, groundbreaking is up 7.7 percent compared to the first 11 months of 2013. Starts have averaged a 990,000-unit pace so far this year, up from an average 930,000-unit rate last year.

In a separate report, financial data firm Markit said its preliminary or "flash" US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell to 53.7 in December, the lowest reading in 11 months, from 54.8 in November.

While the survey hints at slowing factory activity, so-called hard data such as industrial production have painted a bullish picture of the manufacturing sector and showed little sign that a sputtering global economy and crude oil price rout were having an impact on American factories.

Housing is being stymied by tepid wage growth, which has been far outpaced by home price increases. Higher mortgage rates are also a constraint, although they have declined from a peak reached in September 2013.

A very slow pace of household formation also is a challenge. High unemployment among young adults is forcing many to either continue living at home with their parents or share quarters with friends or relatives.

Household formation is currently running at about 500,000 a year, far below the more than 1 million mark that would signal a robust housing market.

But with job growth accelerating, wages are expected to pick up next year and pull in first-time buyers, especially young people, into the housing market, providing a tailwind for the economy. Housing has been a mild boost to growth so far in 2014.

"We believe that it will be only a matter of time before the housing recovery shifts up a gear or two and provides a crucial second wind to the economic recovery," said Millan Mulraine, deputy chief economist at TD Securities in New York.

Single-family homes starts, the largest part of the market, fell 5.4 percent. Groundbreaking in the volatile multi-family homes segment rose 6.7 percent after October's 9.9 percent drop.

Permits for future home construction declined 5.2 percent, the biggest drop since January, to a 1.035 million-unit pace after two straight months of gains.

Permits, which lead starts by three to four months, have been above a 1 million-unit pace since July. Both single-family and multi-family permits fell.