Mitt Romney said “it doesn’t have to be this way” in response to the latest jobs report showing unemployment above eight percent, as he faulted President Obama for passing his health care law at the expense of the economy.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Romney told reporters in New Hampshire. “Forty-one months above eight percent [unemployment] pretty much defines lack of success,” he said, noting that the 20009 stimulus had not provided the promised benefits.