FACTBOX: Presidential candidates on jobs data

(Reuters) - The U.S. Labor Department said 20,000 jobs were shed in the United States last month, the fourth straight month of declines. The figure was not as bad as economists had anticipated.

Following are reactions from the U.S. presidential candidates on the jobs figures:

ARIZONA REPUBLICAN SEN. JOHN MCCAIN

"Today's job numbers are another clear indication of the economic challenges facing our country. With Americans hurting, we must act to strengthen our economy for families and small businesses.

"We must help Americans now through gas tax relief, which provides immediate relief from rising energy prices. ... At the same time, we need to act to lower taxes, streamline regulation, lower health care costs, ensure energy independence and open foreign markets. To help those who have lost jobs, we must focus on promoting effective worker retraining programs."

NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC SEN. HILLARY CLINTON

"Only in (U.S. President) George Bush's economy could the standard for analyzing the jobs report become 'it could have been worse.'

"Losing 20,000 jobs in April is completely unacceptable. It marks the fourth straight month of job loss, and means we have now lost more than a quarter million jobs in 2008. "

"We need a president who understands that a good job is the ticket to the American dream, and who will fight every day for an economy that creates, not loses, jobs. That's what my campaign is about: jobs, jobs, jobs and jobs. And it is why I am focused on providing struggling middle-class Americans real relief right now, with extended unemployment insurance, a $30 billion emergency housing fund, and having the big oil companies pay the gas tax this summer instead of families."

ILLINOIS DEMOCRATIC SEN. BARACK OBAMA

"That's 260,000 jobs lost since the beginning of the year. That's 260,000 more Americans who won't have a paycheck to help them cover the rising cost of health care and child care; gas and groceries. This news is troubling, but it's not surprising -- because in recent months, we've seen the problems in our economy grow worse and worse.

"Now, a big part of why so many folks are struggling is that Washington hasn't been looking out for them. For too long, we've had a politics that's been more about scoring points than solving problems."

"I'm tired of seeing us lose so many jobs month after month, year after year. When I'm president, we'll stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas and start giving them to companies that create good-paying jobs here at home. And we'll focus on long-term job growth."

(Reporting by Deborah Charles, additional reporting by Caren Bohan, editing by Patricia Zengerle)