Romney vows to put his experience as a businessman to use to create 12 million jobs in four years in a country where unemployment only recently fell below 8 percent for the first time since Obama took office. The president claims progress during his term on fixing the economy, though conceding it hasn’t been fast enough, and says Romney’s policies would only make matters worse.

There was little indication that the economy was gathering much momentum, based on a Commerce Department report during the day, which said growth from July through September was slightly faster than a 2 percent annual rate. Growth so far this year is slightly less than in 2011, which was weaker than 2010. Officials said the current annual rate is too slow to bring a rapid boost in job creation.

Not all economy-related soundings were negative.

A prominent measure of consumer confidence, calculated by the University of Michigan, rose to its highest level since September 2007, three months before the nation’s economy cratered and the credit system virtually shut down.

Romney’s aides billed his remarks as a speech about the economy although it was more political than that.

‘‘Four years ago, candidate Obama spoke to the scale of the times. Today, he shrinks from it, trying instead to distract our attention from the biggest issues to the smallest, from characters on Sesame Street and silly word games to misdirected personal attacks he knows are false,’’ he said.

Romney personalized his message at Friday’s final campaign stop on frigid night in North Canton, Ohio: ‘‘How many single moms these days are scrimping and saving so they can put a good meal on the table at the end of the day for their kids?’’ Romney asked with Ryan at his side, later adding, ‘‘It’s time to have a president and a vice president who care more about the people than care about politics.’’

The Republican’s statement that it was no time to ‘‘double down on trickle down government policies’’ was eerily like Clinton’s criticism at the Democratic convention. ‘‘We simply cannot afford to give the reins of government to someone who will double down on trickle down,’’ the former president said, referring to policies he said Republicans had tried in the past with poor results.

The Romney campaign moved swiftly to try to lay one controversy to rest.

Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu suggested in an interview on Thursday that retired Secretary of State Colin Powell had endorsed Obama because both are black. Sununu later issued a statement that said, ‘‘I do not doubt that it was based on anything but his support of the president’s policies.’’

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