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FLAT ROCK, Mich.—Ford is adding 1,200 workers to a suburban Detroit factory to build the Fusion, a sign of confidence that the revamped sedan will be a big seller.

"It took 10 years to get out of the Great Depression," said [Ross] Baker. He said people shouldn't be surprised "if this recovery is half as long..." But, [Nigel] Gault added, "I'm more optimistic that whoever wins the presidency, the next four years will be much better than the past four years."

President Obama said Friday that the job growth reflected in the latest employment report is “not good enough” but suggested things would get better quicker if Congress would cooperate.

The economy added only 96,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department reported this morning; Republicans quickly pounced on the slow job growth, the morning after the Democrats wrapped up their convention in Charlotte.

U.S. employers added 96,000 jobs last month, a weak figure that could slow any momentum President Barack Obama hoped to gain from his speech to the Democratic National Convention. The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, but only because more people gave up looking for work. The government only counts people as unemployed if they are actively searching.

Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, and a private survey showed businesses stepped up hiring in August. The data sketched a brighter outlook for the job market one day before the government reports on August employment.

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week while US manufacturing improved only slightly in August, worrisome signs for an economy struggling to create enough jobs.

Actually, it’s not the economy. At least not this week. A presidential campaign that Republicans wanted to be focused relentlessly on President Obama’s job-creation record seems to be about almost everything else at the moment. In part that’s the result of a monthslong effort by the Obama campaign to shift attention to Mitt Romney’s wealth and business record.

Companies often tout their workplaces as an inviting environment for employees. Yet many are far from it, and workers at many of the largest corporations dislike, or even hate, their jobs.

The state's labor market showed continued resilience in July as California employers added 25,200 nonfarm jobs in July, continuing a 12-month streak of job gains. With that figure, the state posted the largest month-over-month increase in the country, but the unemployment rate was unchanged at 10.7%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.