Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney highlighted some disappointing economic data on the campaign trail on Thursday, claiming that the data is proof that President Barack Obama doesn't deserve another four years in the White House.
The Commerce Department released a report earlier in the day showing that the pace of U.S. GDP growth in the second quarter was downwardly revised to 1.3 percent compared to the previous estimate of 1.7 percent growth.
With the downward revision, the pace of GDP growth in the second quarter reflects an even bigger slowdown from the 2.0 percent growth seen in the first quarter and the 4.1 percent growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2011.
In remarks at an American Legion Post in Springfield, Virginia, Romney noted that the rate of growth by the U.S. economy is much slower than in Russia and China.
"This is a real challenge for us," Romney said. "And this is not just one quarter. This has been going on now for years."
He added, "Our economy needs to be reinvigorated. And the President has laid out his plan. It's a continuation of the old plan. We can't afford four more years of the last four years, all right?"
A press release from the Romney campaign also pointed to a separate report from the Commerce Department showing that new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods showed a substantial decrease in the month of August.
The report showed that durable goods orders plummeted by 13.2 percent in August, although the drop was largely due to a 34.9 percent decrease in orders in the volatile transportation sector.
Andrea Saul, Romney Campaign Spokesperson, said, "The Obama economy is officially stuck in neutral. The nation's second-quarter GDP growth was slashed to 1.3% and manufacturing orders plummeted to their lowest point since President Obama first took office."
"It's clear our nation's job creators and manufacturers can't afford another four years like the last four years," she added. "As president, Mitt Romney will deliver a real recovery, with 12 million new jobs, higher take-home pay, and a stronger middle class."
The White House acknowledged that the data shows that more must be done to strengthen the economy and promote job creation, but Alan Krueger, Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, noted that the economy continues to make progress.
"While we are still rebuilding our economy and working to recover from the worst crisis since the Great Depression, we are making progress and the last thing we should do is return to the economic policies that failed us in the past," Krueger wrote in a White House blog post.
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