Unemployment rises to 7.9%, Obama campaign says economy healing

The U.S. economy added 171,000 new jobs in October and the employment rate inched up to 7.9 percent from last month’s reading of 7.8 percent; August and September job creation totals were revised higher by a total of 84,000, putting average monthly job creation this year at 157,000, slightly ahead of the 2011 pace of 153,000.

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Because this is the last jobs report before Election Day, it’s worth noting that no president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won re-election with a jobless rate higher than 7.4 percent. FDR won a second term in 1936, when the rate was 17 percent, down from 22 percent when he was first elected. The last president since the Great Depression to win re-election with a rate of 7.4 percent or higher was Ronald Reagan in 1984.

White House economic adviser Alan Krueger credited President Obama’s economic policies for the rise in hiring.

“While more work remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class…” he said in the White House blog.

“The economy has now added private sector jobs for 32 straight months, and a total of 5.4 million jobs have been added during that period, taking account of the preliminary benchmark revision,” Krueger said.

In a statement, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney focused on the higher unemployment rate, calling it “sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill.”

“The jobless rate is higher than it was when President Obama took office,” the statement said, “and there are still 23 million Americans struggling for work.”