HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. economy is moving towards job creation as it sails out of the recession, White House economic advisor Lawrence Summers said Thursday.

The economy is "very close to the point where the job losses we have seen will give way to job growth," Summers said in a speech to energy executives at the IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates annual conference in Houston.

"You're looking at growth going forward at a rate that is going to be sufficient to start creating jobs and to start reducing unemployment," he added. Recovery, though, will be "less rapid" than that of many past recessions, such as the one that occurred in the early 1980s, which was caused by the Reagan Administration's move to curb inflation.

The recovery has been brought about by the active intervention and massive spending by the U.S. government, but at some point expenses need to be reined in, Summers said.

"Make no mistake: the world's biggest borrower stays the world's biggest power," Summers said. "As recovery comes it will be essential to contain spending and bring revenues and spending back towards balance."

The official added that energy investment is "potentially a major job creator," and that the Obama administration will support legislation that backs oil and gas development as well as renewables.

"President Obama will continue to support comprehensive legislation that seeks to put a price on carbon at long last," as well as laws that "seek to take advantage of the major opportunity that has been created by oil and gas that we didn't know we had," Summers said.

"If there's ever an issue where we should move from either/or to both/and, I would suggest it is in energy," he added.

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