Obama touts jobs report

October from a jobs perspective was a mixed bag --- U.S. employers stepped up hiring while the jobless rate went from up a tenth of a percentage point.

In Hilliard, Ohio, President Barack Obama emphasized the positive.

SOUNDBITE: U.S. President Barack Obama saying:

"And today our businesses have created nearly five and half million new jobs and this morning we learned that companies hired more workers in October than at any time in the last eight months."

Employers added 171,000 people to their payrolls last month while the jobless rate went from 7.8 percent to 7.9 percent.

Few issues have dogged the president as much as the sluggish economy --- putting the likelihood of a second term in jeopardy. The latest Reuters/Ipsos shows the race deadlocked, with Obama at 47 percent to Romney's 46 percent.