MA Senate Candidates Spar Over Jobs Numbers

A weak jobs report is providing fodder for Massachusetts’ contested U.S. Senate race, with each candidate using the numbers to fault their rival. WAMC’s Lucas Willard reports…

Republican Senator Scott Brown says the addition of just 96,000 jobs across the country in August shows the economy is weighed down by skyrocketing debt and the threat of tax hikes.

He says his Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren would make the problem worse by pushing for higher taxes.

Warren faults Brown for voting against bills she says would have supported thousands of jobs in Massachusetts.

She says Brown and Republicans are dug in and have only one solution — more tax cuts for the wealthy.

The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, but only because more people gave up looking for jobs.

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