Republicans were quick to go on the offensive Friday following the release of a disappointing U.S. jobs report, claiming that the continued sluggishness in the labor market is a sign that President Barack Obama's economic policies are not working.
The Labor Department released a report showing that the U.S. economy added 96,000 jobs in August, although the job growth fell short of economist estimates for an increase of about 130,000 jobs.
While the report also showed that the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 8.1 percent, the drop was largely due to a notable decrease in the size of the workforce.
Referring to the final night of the Democratic convention on Thursday, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said, "If last night was the party, this morning is the hangover."
"After 43 straight months of unemployment above 8%, it is clear that President Obama just hasn't lived up to his promises and his policies haven't worked," Romney added. "We aren't better off than we were four years ago."
The former Massachusetts governor went on to claim that his economic policies would create 12 million jobs by the end of his first term in office.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus also took aim at the president following the release of the report, arguing that Obama has "yet to keep his number one promise to fix the economy."
"President Obama has no new plans for a second term-just more spending and more taxes. If we don't change course, we'll only get more of the same," Priebus said. "Mitt Romney is the only candidate with a five-part plan to create 12 million jobs and strengthen the middle class."
He added, "The millions of Americans who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 are realizing it's time to break up with this president. He promised hope and change but delivered division and despair. With Mitt Romney we can do better."
Perhaps not surprisingly, the White House took a more positive view of the jobs report, with Alan Krueger, Chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, saying that the data provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover.
Acknowledging that there is more work to be done, Krueger said, "It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007."
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