Romney: Jobs numbers ‘short’ of what Obama promised

WEST ALLIS, WIS. — Mitt Romney pointed to Friday’s job numbers to argue that President Obama has failed to deliver on his campaign promises and said his reelection would mean four more years of “crippling unemployment.”

“He said he was going to lower the unemployment rate down to 5.2% right now. Today we learned that’s it actually 7.9%, and that’s 9 millions jobs short of what he promised,” Romney told thousands gathered in at a state fair pavilion. “Unemployment is higher today than when Barack Obama took office. Think of that -- unemployment today is higher than on the day Barack Obama took office.”

Employers added 171,000 jobs in October, more than expected, and unemployment rose to 7.9% because of more people entering the workforce, according to Labor Department statistics released Friday morning. The jobs report had been highly anticipated, coming four days before the presidential race.

Throughout the campaign, Romney has used the monthly jobs numbers to buttress his argument that Obama has failed to right the nation’s economy and help struggling families. Bad numbers have been held up as proof of the president’s failure, while better reports have been painted as sluggish and not as fast a recovery as the nation needs.

Seema.mehta@latimes.com
@LATSeema