Obama: Romney scaring voters with lies

The pair traded jabs after a highly anticipated economic report failed to jolt the fiercely close race.

Mr Obama and Mr Romney both tried to seize on the monthly jobs report released on Friday to energise their bases and sway the few undecided voters still out there.

The numbers held something for both candidates, showing the monthly unemployment rate rose slightly but created far more jobs than expected.

Mr Obama argued the report proved his policies over the last four years have put the US on the road to recovery.

The Democratic incumbent warned voters that a Romney presidency would resurrect the policies that got the US into financial trouble in the first place under Republican predecessor George W Bush.

Mr Romney called the report a "sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill" and warned grimly of political paralysis and another recession if Mr Obama reclaims the White House.

He said an Obama presidency would mean more broken relations with Congress, showdowns over government shutdowns, a chilling effect on the economy and perhaps "another recession".

"He has never led, never worked across the aisle, never truly understood how jobs are created in the economy," said Mr Romney, a former private equity firm executive, in a campaign stop in Wisconsin.

Mr Obama will face voters with the highest unemployment rate of any incumbent since Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The government report showed the United States added a solid 171,000 jobs in October, and more than half a million Americans joined the workforce, the latest signs that the uneven economic recovery is gaining strength once again.

But the unemployment rate inched up to 7.9% because not all those joining the workforce found work.

It was the final snapshot of the economy before the election on Tuesday.

"We've made real progress," Mr Obama told a crowd in Ohio shortly after the report. "But we've got more work to do."

While the politically neutral report was unlikely to affect the election outcome, it brought the economy back into the national conversation in a country still preoccupied with the devastation wrought by Superstorm Sandy on the US East Coast.

Mr Obama paused his campaigning for three days this week to manage the natural disaster.

Mr Romney muted criticism of the president during those days for fear of appearing to seek political advantage while Americans were suffering, and his campaign watched awkwardly as a once-prominent Obama critic, New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie, praised the president and toured storm damage with him.

Polling shows the race remains a legitimate toss-up heading into the final days, but Mr Obama holds a slight lead in a majority of the battleground states where the outcome of the vote is likely to be determined.

Under the US system, the nationwide popular vote does not determine the winner. Mr Romney and Mr Obama are actually competing to win at least 270 electoral votes in state-by-state contests.

Those electoral votes are apportioned to states based on a mix of population and representation in Congress.

Mr Romney has the tougher path to victory because he must win more of the nine most-contested states to reach 270 electoral votes: Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Hampshire.

In a late, concerted effort to change that landscape, the former Massachusetts governor was making a push into Pennsylvania, a state that has been considered solid Democratic territory and that Mr Obama won comfortably in 2008.

Mr Romney's foray into Pennsylvania is not folly. Unlike states that emphasise early voting, Pennsylvania will see most votes cast on Election Day.

The state has not been saturated with political advertising, giving Mr Romney and his supporting groups - still flush with cash - an opportunity to sway last-minute voters with a barrage of commercials.

Mr Obama is countering by buying commercial time in the state as well and is sending former president Bill Clinton into the state to campaign.