New job figures released Friday show the nation’s unemployment rate has fallen to 7.8 percent, the lowest point since President Obama took office. Employers added 114,000 workers in September, and revised figures showed employment gains in previous months were higher than previously thought. The number marked a boost to President Obama’s re-election bid in the aftermath of his widely criticized debate performance last week. Addressing supporters at the University of Virginia, Obama said the country “has come too far to turn back.”

President Obama: “More people are getting jobs. Now every month reminds us that we’ve still got too many of our friends and neighbors who are looking for work. And there are too many middle-class families that are still struggling to pay the bills. They were struggling long before the crisis hit. But today’s news certainly is not an excuse to try to talk down the economy to score a few political points. It’s a reminder that this country has come too far to turn back now.”

Also campaigning in Virginia, Republican challenger Mitt Romney downplayed the new figures.

Mitt Romney: “This can’t go on. I’ll tell you this, when I’m president of the United States — when I’m president of the United States, that unemployment rate is going to come down, not because people are giving up and dropping out of the workforce, but because we’re creating more jobs. I will create jobs and get America working again.”