Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney lambasted President Obama on Friday, just one day after the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, arguing for a leadership that will turn the economy around.

Romney took political advantage of a slightly dismal jobs report that showed a stagnant economy, according to CNN.

"If last night was the party, this morning is the hangover," said Romney.

The Labor Department said employers added 96,000 jobs in August, falling short of expectations. According to The Washington Post, the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent last month from 8.3 percent in July, but only because more people gave up looking for work.

Romney said middle class families are suffering "through the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression" and Obama "just hasn't lived up to his promises."

Now that the Republican and Democratic conventions are behind them, Romney and President Obama have started on the final leg of their campaigning before the Nov. 6 elections. 

"There's certainly nothing that he said last night that gives the American people confidence he knows what he would do to create jobs or build a stronger economy," said Romney, who told reporters Wednesday that he did not plan to watch the president's convention address.

CNN: 

On Thursday Obama quipped that his opponent "might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing" given the uproar he caused in London this July by publicly questioning whether the city was prepared to hold the Olympics.

Romney turned that jab around Friday by echoing his Republican predecessor, Sen. John McCain.

"I'm very pleased that my Olympic experience allows me to talk about the Olympics in a straight talk manner," Romney said. "And I think it would be appropriate if the president would talk to China in a straight talk manner."

Alan Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement to The Washington Post that "there is more work that remains to be done."

"It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007," said Krueger.

The Boston Globe reported that Krueger said it was "important not to read too much into any one monthly report."

However, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan said the numbers don't reflect a recovery and is an example of a bad fiscal policy put forth by the Obama administration.

The Boston Globe:

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Obama and the Democrats had plenty of plans to create more jobs and boost the economy but Republicans "keep standing in the way of growth and certainty for our economy."

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt tried to shift the focus to what he said were failings in Romney's economic plans, referring back to the GOP convention in Florida last month and the track record of the Bush administration.

"In Tampa, Mitt Romney didn't offer one idea that would create good-paying, sustainable jobs for the middle class," LaBolt said in a statement. "Gov. Romney has yet to explain how returning to policies that crashed the economy and devastated the middle class would now have the opposite impact."

Jobs and the economy are the core issues in the presidential race reports the San Francisco Chronicle, and they remain a burden to Obama. 

San Francisco Chronicle:

The unemployment rate has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, the longest stretch in monthly records going back to 1948, and economic growth this year is below normal for the post-World War II era.

The unemployment rate has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, the longest stretch in monthly records going back to 1948, and economic growth this year is below normal for the post-World War II era.

Only one U.S. president, Ronald Reagan, has been re-elected since World War II with a jobless rate above 6 percent. The rate was 7.2 percent on Election Day 1984 after having dropped almost three percentage points in the previous 18 months.

Jared Bernstein, former economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2011 said if Obama could say the country is moving in the right direction, but "we're moving there too slowly."

Despite reports of a bleak economy, a seven-day tracking poll by the Gallup Organization showed Obama to have 47 percent support from voters and Romney with 46 percent, based on a survey of 3,050 registered voters. The margin of error is 2 percentage points.

In addition, national polls also reflect a tight race. Obama and Romney are tied at 48 percent based on a CNN/Opinion Research poll of 735 likely voters taken Aug. 31 to Sept. 3, with an error of margin plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Democratic and GOP candidates will be heading to swing states, with Obama scheduled to speak in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Romney in Orange City, Iowa. After, the two competitors will switch with Obama heading to Iowa and Romney making his way towards New Hampshire.

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