On a day when we heard about disappointing job numbers, the Obama administration got some good economic news for car sales numbers. The news was particularly good for Chrysler, which had another huge month with 30% year-over-year growth in May.

It marked a 12th consecutive month of sales gains of more than 20% for the company, which has gained about two percentage points in U.S. market share to nearly 11%. Total sales were 150,041.

And it comes as Chrysler prepares later this month to roll out its key new car introduction for the year, the Fiat-based Dodge Dart, above, that it aims to get the company back into the small-car game. Dart is an enlarged, Americanized version of Fiat’s sporty Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

All the company’s brands — Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Fiat — posted year-over-year gains in May. Fiat was up most, 128% to a record month as the tiny 500 finally gains some traction.

But the Chrysler brand was heroic — up 81%, as the 200 sedan zoomed 87% and the big 300 rocketed 140% for its best May since 2007.

The administration would be wise to emphasize this news at a time when the unemployment rate is getting plenty of attention.

The Chrysler comeback continues as it posted 3rd quarter profits.

Chrysler Group said today it made a profit of $212 million in the third quarter, well up from a loss of $84 million a year earlier.

The automaker, majority-owned by Italy’s Fiat, said its revenue for the quarter was $13.1 billion, up 19% from a year ago. It had $9.5 billion in cash at the end of the quarter, down from $10.2 billion a year earlier.

The earnings announcement comes just a day after Chrysler announced a new contract with the United Auto Workers union, last of the Detroit 3 to do so. That contract won approval of just 54.75% of UAW members, and a majority of the skilled-trades workers opposed it.

This is further evident that the Obama Administration’s auto bailout has worked. Chrysler is now a healthy company, and the auto industry is helping to drive the US economy.

With the announcement today that Chrysler will repay its $7.5 billion bailout loan it received from the U.S. government, the auto bailout has reached another milestone.

To get out of its credit fix, Chrysler has lined up loans of $4.3 billion and will issue $3.2 billion in bonds. Italy’s Fiat, which controls Chrysler, will kick in $1.3 billion and get 46% ownership.

Private money has stepped up, thus validating the approach taken by the Obama administration. It’s also a significant victory for all the employees at Chrysler who worked through this difficult period and came out with new versions of vehicles like the Dodge Charger pictured above and the new Chrysler 200.

Chrysler’s two-minute Super Bowl commercial for the new Chrysler 200 featuring scenes of Detroit and with an appearance by Eminem is getting plenty of buzz. It’s two minutes long and quite compelling. The comeback story for the company fits with the concept of a rust best city trying to come back as well. I wonder if the workers at Chrysler and GM will be sending thank you notes to President Obama for saving the companies?