Presidential candidates Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama on Friday traded attacks over new reports of a slowing economy.

McCain charged that if Obama is elected, he will raise taxes, while Obama said a McCain presidency would lead to another four years of President Bush’s economic policies. The exchanges followed government reports that the economy had shed another 51,000 jobs in July and that the unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent.

“Unlike Sen. Obama, I do not believe that raising taxes is the answer to our economic problems,” said McCain, the Arizona Republican. “There is no surer way to force jobs overseas than to raise taxes on businesses. The American people cannot afford economic policies that will take us backward.”

Meantime, the Illinois Democrat touted his economic plan of providing a $1,000 energy rebate while also stimulating the economy through investments in the nation infrastructure. Obama also sought to tie McCain to President Bush and his economic policies.

“Today’s jobs report is an urgent reminder that we cannot afford four more years of the failed Bush economic policies, and that is what Senator McCain is offering,” the Democrat stated. “He’s proposing to cut the gasoline tax paid by the oil companies and trust that they will pass on the savings in the form of lower prices at the pump. And he’s also proposing tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans in the hopes that a little bit of it will trickle down to ordinary Americans.”