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"FacebookPinterestHiring Full.jpgGetty Images\n\n It's Jobs Numbers Friday, and the news is out: the economy added 163,000 jobs in July, about 60 percent better than expectations, and the largest figure in five months. That's good right? Yes. Is it enough to make any difference in the presidential race? Don't be silly. By now we all know that it would take something truly seismic to shake up the contest\u2014a Sarah Palin encore as VP nominee, maybe, or Biden's surprise unmasking as a secret Kenyan. (For the record, we'd be interested in either development.) So while the Obama team doubtless is breathing a little easier because the report is pretty good, the terrain before them is essentially unchanged.\n\nThe Romney campaign released a statement calling the report \"a hammer blow to struggling middle-class families\" because the unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a percent, from 8.2 to 8.3. The White House is just out with its own statement citing the numbers as \"further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression\" and touting 29 straight months of job growth. Both camps, of course, think this report means you should vote for their guy, and doubtless most voters will read the news the same way: the Times reported the other day that in three key swing states, more than 90 percent of voters have already picked a candidate, and only 10 percent of those say they might change their minds.\n\nAll of which means you're free to return to watching Olympics highlights and planning another summer weekend. But be aware: the season of actual political import is approaching at last. By the time the next Jobs Numbers Friday rolls around, Romney's VP pick will be old news, the Republican National Convention will be over and done with, and Obama will just have given his acceptance speech in Charlotte. And then, truly, it'll be off to the races.\n\n Read more on Death Race 2012\n\nG(Chat)Q&amp;amp;A with The Economist's Erica Grieder: Getting the Texas Perspective on DNC Keynoter Juli&amp;amp;#xC3;&amp;amp;#xA1;n Castro, Ted Cruz, and the Latino Vote\n\nEmo Emails from Barack\n\nHunger Reads: Jared Diamond Would Like to Correct the Record, and Yes, Olympic Swimmers Do Pee in the Pool\n\nHmm, What Four-Letter Word Haven't We Heard in a While?\n\nFollow Reid Cherlin on Twitter for more updates from the campaign trail."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/ready-set-fixate-163000-jobs-added-in-july>