President Barack Obama’s re-election bid suffered a setback yesterday as a government report showed that hiring slowed down in May. This reinforced Republican Mitt Romney’s criticisms against the incumbent president. Job Growth

Jobs in the United States grew by 69,000 in May. This is the fewest in the year and less than the forecast of private economists. The unemployment rate increased to 8.2 percent, which is the first increase since last June of2011.

April figures also came below forecast as it showed a gain of just 77,000. The Labor Department’s monthly employment report added to the other signs of a weakening economy. This is one of the major concerns of voters as the presidential election nears.

President Obama was in a fundraiser in Minneapolis yesterday and during his speech he said that the slowdown in the US job growth was due to the European governments’ insufficient response to the region’s debt crisis. He said that the biggest problem of the nation’s economy is not within the United States but overseas.

The president said that Europe has a significant crisis because they didn’t take decisive steps to deal with the challenge. It has weakened Asia, which made it harder for the nation’s exports. According to government reports, manufacturing output decreased in Europe and China, which is the world’s second-largest economy.

Republicans blamed President Obama’s policies for the sluggish labor market. Romney said that the slowdown of the jobs growth is bad news for middle-class families in the nation. This is harsh indictment of Obama’s policies.

Romney added that if he becomes the president, he would focus on generating more jobs in the United States. He said that Obama has always looked for someone to blame for the problems of the economy.

House Speaker John Boehner blamed the Democrats and President Obama for their refusal to work with Republicans to pass bills to promote job growth. He said that the economy would have been better if the Democrats took the advice of the Republicans.