Obama, Romney offer different takes on job numbers

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Associated Press

Story Created: Fri Aug 3, 2012 1:10 PM

Story Updated: Fri Aug 3, 2012 1:10 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - They agree that more needs to be done on behalf of out-of-work Americans -- but otherwise, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney offer different takes on today's jobless numbers.
   
The government says private employers added 163,000 jobs in July, the best hiring pace in five months, but the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3 percent.
   
Obama is heralding more signs of slow, if steady, job growth, though he says too many Americans are looking for work. He's using today's jobless figures to push Congress to extend tax cuts for the middle class.
   
Romney says the increase in the jobless rate is a "hammer blow" to the middle class. He says "middle-class Americans deserve better."
   
Romney is promoting his economic plan that he says would create 12 million new jobs over the next four years.

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