Romney says jobs numbers a 'harsh indictment' of Obama's policies

Romney says jobs numbers a 'harsh indictment' of Obama's policies

Mitt Romney called Friday’s jobs numbers that show unemployment grew to 8.2% last month a “harsh indictment” of President Obama’s economic policies and argued that the president is a failure and has put his personal goals ahead of creating jobs.

“It’s very bad news obviously for middle-class families of America,” Romney said during an interview on CNBC.  “Their policies have not worked and in many respects their policies have made it harder for the economy to recover. I think that's one of the reasons why people are looking for a new direction.”

The labor figures also showed that 69,000 jobs were added in May, less than expected.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee said these figures are a result of Obama giving greater precedence to his personal priorities, such as passing healthcare reform, than fixing the nation’s economy. 

“Jobs are job one for the presidency,” Romney said. “He decided instead of getting people back to work, he’d fight for something he thought was historic and, frankly, the American people don’t want it and we can’t afford it.”

Asked about how the crisis in Greece and other global problems are affecting the United States’ economy, Romney said the nation would be less affected if it was in the middle of a strong economic recovery.

The quickest solution? Electing Romney to the White House, he said.

“The most significant thing we can do in the near-term is get a new president who understands what it takes to get the economy going again,” he said.

seema.mehta@latimes.com