Romney, Obama React To Unemployment [VIDEO]

President Barack Obama is hailing another month of job growth but declaring "we've got more work to do."

Falling just four days before Tuesday's election, the government's latest employment snapshot shows U.S. employers added 171,000 jobs in October. It also shows hiring was stronger in August and September than first thought.

The unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent in October, from 7.8 percent in September, mainly because more people began looking for work.

Obama said the job growth is part of a pattern of 'real progress' that includes a stronger auto industry, rising home values and less dependence on foreign oil.

Jobs and the economy have been the dominant issue in the remarkably close race between Obama and Republican Mitt Romney.

Obama spoke to a boisterous crowd outside Columbus, Ohio.

Romney seizes on uptick in unemployment rate

Mitt Romney says the one-tenth-of-a-point increase in the unemployment rate is "a sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill."

The Republican presidential nominee says voters will decide Tuesday between what he calls stagnation and prosperity.

He made the comments in a statement while traveling from Norfolk, Va., to Milwaukee, to continue campaigning in the final days of the White House race.

Romney argues that President Barack Obama's policies have crushed America's middle class, and that the nation can do better. He's also promising to make real changes that will lead to a real recovery.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)