ABOARD THE ROMNEY PLANE -- Mitt Romney placed the blame for Friday's weak jobs report squarely on President Obama, charging that his Democratic rival for the White House "hasn't lived up to his promises and his policies haven't worked."
"If last night was the party, this morning is the hangover," Romney said in a statement that was released as the candidate flew from New Hampshire to Iowa for a rally on Friday morning.
"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," he said.
Homing in on the central theme of his campaign, the former Massachusetts governor argued that Americans aren't better off than they were four years ago: "America deserves new leadership that will get our economy moving again," he said.
The U.S. added 96,000 jobs in August, lowering the unemployment rate from 8.3% in July to 8.1% last month. But part of that drop was due to the fact that many Americans stopped looking for work. The Labor Department also revised its estimates for June and July -- reporting that 41,000 fewer jobs were created.
Romney and Obama will be campaigning Friday in two early primary states that have among the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. Unemployment in Iowa was 5.3% in August; in New Hampshire, it was 5.4%.
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