This is a rush transcript from "The Five," August 3, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
ERIC BOLLING, CO-HOST:In life, timing is everything, and the timing couldn't be worse for President Obama with 95 days or so to the election. We learn today that Americans unemployed increased by 45,000 last month and unemployment rate jumped to staggering 8.3 percent. And that's the good news.
The bad news is something you are probably not going to hear in the liberal mainstream media, but you are here because we are keeping it real. Gasoline is spiking in a big way.
Check out what's going on with gasoline. Note, the battleground states Obama held in 2008 are the hardest hit.
First up, Ohio, check it out. State of Ohio, overnight, 15 cent jump in gasoline prices overnight; 45 cents over the last month. Electoral votes in Ohio, 18.
Next, Michigan, 13 cents jump overnight; 42 cents over the month. 16electoral votes.
Go!
Florida, two cents overnight, 31 cents over the month. One more -- 29 electoral votes in Florida, by the way.
Ten electoral votes in Wisconsin. You can bring it out to us now.
Bob, four states, four battleground states having a hard time with the gasoline prices. How in the world do you get past that?
BOB BECKEL, CO-HOST: Well, how in the world you get past is it to tell the actual figures. First of all, there were 163,000 new jobs last month. Yes, there were more people leaving the workforce and all that. But 160,000 jobs created.
Gasoline generally goes up, as you well know as a former gas trader, in the summer. It's much less than it was a year ago.
BOLLING: Fifteen cents overnight in Ohio.
BECKEL: It's much less than it was a year ago.
BOLLING: Fifteen cents over --
BECKEL: Less than it was a year ago.
BOLLING: It's 95 percent more than it was three years ago or four years ago when Obama was elected.
BECKEL: This says to me vacation time. That's the reason the gas prices are up and traders like you.
GUILFOYLE: OK, you can demonize all you want but the numbers are for real.
BECKEL: I'm demonizing?
KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, CO-HOST: And Obama, his administration has to take ownership of it. They are the last ones here, and the White House has three more jobs report coming out before the election and one on November 2nd. Good luck.
BECKEL: Yes. OK, let's not demonize anybody here, no.
ANDREA TANTAROS, CO-HOST: How much Maalox do you think David Axelrod reached for when he saw these numbers? Especially underemployment, it's almost double what employment is. So a lot of people working at say Taco Bell with a law degree that have got to be pretty ticked off. I mean, think about that. Millions of Americans who are now -- they have jobs but they're angry because they're not the jobs they want.
GUILFOYLE: Wouldn't you be?
TANTAROS: The question is, who
do they blame come November? And I think --
BECKEL: They are going to blame Obama.
First of all, lawyers working at Taco Bell is probably a good start.
BOLLING: All right.
GUILFOYLE: How are they going to blame Romney?
BOLLING: No, but lawyers working in fast food restaurant isn't good for the economy. Go ahead, Greg.
GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: I have a question. I have a question. I have a question and I have a comment. My question is 155 -- stop that -- 155,000 people left the workforce. Where do they go? It's just a giant kidnapping. Where are they hiding? Are they in the MSNBC line-up? No one sees them.
BECKEL: A lot of them go to Social Security. A lot of them go to Social Security.
GUTFELD: The other thing, youth unemployment -- 18 to 19-year-olds are up to 22 percent. That's one out of five. When young people are working, it's scary. That is how Menudo started.
GUILFOYLE: I like that, Greg.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLLING: Bob, you want to play games with the numbers. Here are the real numbers.
BECKEL: No, you play games with the numbers.
BOLLING: The economy has to create 120,000 jobs to keep up with people moving here, birthrates and people graduating from high school.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLLING: Do we agree with that number at least? It's a well-known number. CBO will tell you that.
BECKEL: Fine, I will accept that.
BOLLING: During the term of President Obama, it's 42 months he has been, 42 full months he has been president. If you do the math, 42 times 120,000. That's 5 million people have come in the workforce. They're not working. There are 5 million people who aren't working.
BECKEL: There are 4.5 million jobs created, which means that they are a loss of 500,000 jobs.
BOLLING: There are 300,000 fewer people working in America today than January 20, 2009.
BECKEL: How many people out of the workforce go to Social Security? This is an aging workforce.
BOLLING: That's what's happening, Kimberly. They're leaving the workforce and they're going on the public dole.
GUILFOYLE: That's why --
BECKEL: Social Security is public dole? They paid for it.
GUILFOYLE: That's why it's meaningless when you say 163,000 jobs added in July. Guess what? Because guess what? There's a gaping hole and just pouring through with people who are now long-term unemployment, losing jobs. We are not adding back in enough to make a difference.
BECKEL: You know people who turn old enough to get Social Security every month? It's tens of hundreds of thousands.
TANTAROS: That's why it's so critical -- what's the plan? What's Obama going to do?
BECKEL: What is Romney's plan besides to cut taxes on the rich and tax the middle class?
TANTAROS: It's a very, very fair question. Both of these two men have to define what they are going to do. I'm not sure both of them have clearly stated what that is.
BECKEL: Every economist that I've heard from has said that Romney is going to increase taxes on middle class. And he will. The guy doesn't tell the truth about much of anything. He won't us tell what his job is. You tell me what his job plan is.
GUTFELD: Oh, it's four words. "I won't be him."
BECKEL: Oh, that's good. That's why you're in the comedy business.
GUTFELD: The economy is now become like the Olympics. It's a spectator sport.
People are on the couch, sitting it out for two reasons. One, they don't have confidence in the economy. So, small businesses aren't hiring. Number two, they have extended unemployment benefits.
So, the economy is getting screwed from both ends. Try not to make a joke out of that, Bob.
BOLLING: I thought you were going to.
GUTFELD: No, I wasn't. I just saw it coming.
Content and Programming Copyright 2012 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2012 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox