America must not turn back, says Obama after jobs report

FAIRFAX, Virginia (AFP) - US President Barack Obama said on Friday that America had come too far to turn back to Republican economics after a surprise fall in the unemployment rate to 7.8 percent.

Mr Obama, seeking to flip a media narrative driven by his drowsy showing at Wednesday's first presidential debate, also accused his Republican rival Mitt Romney of undergoing an "extreme makeover" to hide conservative positions.

"Today, I believe that as a nation we are moving forward again," Mr Obama said at a rowdy rally at a university in swing state Virginia. "After losing about 800,000 jobs a month when I took office, our businesses have now added 5.2 million new jobs over the past two and a half years,"

"This morning, we found out that the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since I took office,'' he added.