July Job Numbers Stir Up Mixed Signals Between Democrats and Rep - WTRF 7 News Sports Weather - Wheeling Steubenville

The Department of Labor has just released July's jobs numbers on Friday. They are stirring up mixed signals from Democrats and Republicans.

Obama and the Democratic party are cautiously optimistic focusing on the greater than expected number of jobs added in July, just over 160,000.

According to the Labor Department, July's hiring numbers mark an improvement over previous months. This is the most jobs added since February.

Republican's, however, focus on the slight rise in unemployment, which went from 8.25 to 8.35 in July.

7News caught up with Congressman Bill Johnson on Saturday at his campaign headquarters. He calls the newly released July numbers disappointing.

"Another month. Forty-two straight months that unemployment has been at 8% or higher," he says. "Its going in the wrong direction. It's now at 8.3% and climbing. We've got nearly 89,000,000 Americans of working age that have given up hope of finding a job."

Johnson says that many of those unemployed are here in southeastern Ohio, where the region's unemployment numbers remain in double digits, much higher than the national average.