Mitt Romney slammed President Obama over a disappointing August jobs report in a statement Friday, declaring that "if last night was the party, this morning is the hangover." "For every net new job created, nearly four Americans gave up looking for work entirely. This is more of the same for middle class families who are suffering through the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression," Romney continued. "After 43 straight months of unemployment above 8 percent, it is clear that President Obama just hasn't lived up to his promises and his policies haven't worked. We aren’t better off than they were four years ago."
The economy added 96,000 jobs in August, and unemployment fell from 8.3 to 8.1 percent. But economists had expected around 150,000 jobs to be added, and the 368,000 people who dropped out of the workforce last month is the highest amount in years.
Other Republicans also pounced on the jobs numbers, looking to stem any momentum the president might have gained from this week's Democratic National Convention.
"Just hours after President Obama asked America for a second term, we received a clear reminder that he has yet to keep his number one promise to fix the economy," said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in a statement. "The indisputable message of today's job report: We're not creating jobs fast enough, and we're certainly not better off than we were four years ago.Time is up Mr. President."
Top House Republicans also slammed the number, with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) saying in a statement "these jobs numbers aren’t good enough."
“Results matter. Over the past three and a half years, we haven’t seen results. Young Americans are growing up in a jobless economy, middle class families face more hardships and our nation is losing ground globally," Cantor said.
And aides to Romney knocked the jobs figures on Twitter.
"I did the arithmetic, per Bill Clinton's suggestion. For every net new job in August, nearly 4 people stopped looking for work," wrote top Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom.
Republicans will likely continue to hammer the president on the report throughout the day. Both Romney and running mate Paul Ryan scheduled cable news interviews for Friday morning, and the Romney campaign has four rallies scheduled for throughout the day.
