A highly anticipated economic report failed to jolt the fiercely close US presidential race four days before Americans choose between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, two candidates prescribing starkly different solutions for putting the country on a more prosperous path.
Obama and Romney both tried to seize on the monthly jobs report released Friday to energize their bases and sway the few undecided voters still out there. The numbers held something for both candidates, showing the monthly unemployment rate ticked up slightly but created far more jobs than expected.
Obama argued the report proved his policies over the last four years have put the US on the road to recovery. The Democratic incumbent warned voters that a Romney presidency would resurrect the policies that got the US into financial trouble in the first place under Republican predecessor George W. Bush.
Romney called the report a “sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill” and warned grimly of political paralysis and another recession if Obama reclaims the White House.
Obama will face voters with the highest unemployment rate of any incumbent since Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The government report showed the United States added a solid 171,000 jobs in October, and more than a half-million Americans joined the work force, the latest signs that the uneven economic recovery is gaining strength once again. But the unemployment rate inched up to 7.9 per cent because not all those joining the work force found work.