WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is seeking an election-year advantage on the economy by setting 4 percent as a target for the nation’s unemployment rate.
Romney also says the economy should be creating about 500,000 jobs a month. He says new jobs numbers showing that unemployment dipped to 8.1 percent and the economy added 115,000 jobs last month was “not good news.”
Monthly job totals, in thousands
President Barack Obama slightly disagrees. He says the fact that the economy is adding jobs is “good news.” But with millions of people still out of work, Obama says there is more work to do.
The last time the nation’s unemployment rate was below 4 percent was in December 2000, in the final weeks of the Clinton administration.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.