The Republican strategy of obstructing the recovery from the 2008 financial collapse caused by their anti-regulatory policies during the Bush-Cheney administration has been surprisingly effective over the past three years. However, the June jobs report released today suggests they will have to redouble their efforts to keep employment low and foreclosures up among their constituents back home if they are going to achieve their stated “single most important” goal of making Barack Obama a one-term president:

President Barack Obama got new jobs figures Friday to buttress his argument that he’s presiding over steady, if slow, economic growth. But the government’s report that the overall rate of unemployment actually crept up by one-tenth of a point allows Republican Mitt Romney to keep pressure on Obama to defend his record.

The new unemployment numbers show that private employers added 163,000 jobs in July, the best pace of hiring in five months. The jobless rate rose, however, to 8.3 percent from 8.2 percent in June.