WASHINGTON (October 26, 2012)--Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said a U.S. Commerce Department report released Friday on the nation's economic growth is discouraging.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy expanded at a slightly faster 2 percent annual rate from July through September, but Romney suggested that pickup wasn't sufficient to create enough jobs and improve take-home pay and argued he would do better.

The report came as the GOP nominee prepared to deliver an economic speech in the swing state of Iowa.

Romney is focusing on the public's economic concerns heading into the final days of the campaign as polls suggest Americans say they trust him more than President Barack Obama to handle the issue.