A Utah design firm that has tripled in size and opened offices in three cities was the backdrop Friday as White House hopeful Jon Huntsman touted his job-creation record and took shots at President Barack Obama and leading GOP challenger Mitt Romney.

"We're a country of 300 million people. The last jobs report in June registered a grand total of 18,000 [new] jobs. Abysmal," Huntsman said during a visit to StruckAxiom. "The president has had over two years to fix this economy, and he has failed."

Huntsman, Obama's ex-ambassador to China, has stepped up his criticism of his former boss considerably since he visited Utah last month and toured a medical facility, touting, again, his jobs record.

The former Utah governor also had barbs for Romney, saying he is not the best candidate to revive the U.S. labor market.

"All you need to do is look at one's track record while serving in an executive position," Huntsman said. "Take our first-place position here as a state in terms of jobs created during certain periods and you can compare and contrast that with 47th, which is where Massachusetts was [when Romney was governor there]. Let the numbers be your guide."

Huntsman said Republicans need a candidate who "actually has some credibility when it comes to job growth" to go up against Obama.

The Romney campaign said it did not want to respond to Huntsman's criticism.

A recent Public Policy Polling survey showed that Romney — who has ties to the Beehive State from his time running the 2002 Winter Olympics — would trounce Huntsman in a Utah Republican primary, 82 percent to 14 percent.

Huntsman dismissed the poll.

"Utah isn't an early primary state, so I don't think we should be obsessing too much over that," he said, adding that he is more encouraged by the result from the poll that showed him running stronger than Romney against Obama in Utah.

Utah Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland said it is ironic that it was Obama's stimulus plan — which Huntsman supported — that created many of the jobs for which the former governor now takes credit.

"The governor got a severe case of amnesia in China," Holland said. "It seems a bit hypocritical for him to now be attacking the president for the exact program that made Huntsman look good on jobs. We had a lot of construction projects in this state, a lot of money spent and that was something he was very supportive of during that time."

From the time Huntsman took office to the economic peak in January 2007, 127,000 jobs were created in the state and unemployment fell to as low as 2.3 percent — the lowest in Utah history.

By the time Huntsman left to become U.S. ambassador to China in August 2009, about half those jobs had been swallowed by the recession and the unemployment rate had tripled.

Huntsman's latest visit to Salt Lake City overlaps with the National Governors Association meeting this weekend.

He said he plans to have side meetings with individual governors but doesn't expect to lock up any endorsements.

"That would be an inappropriate use of the NGA," he said.

He had a sit-down with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is frequently considered a GOP presidential contender. Christie would not answer questions about the meeting. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who considered a White House run, said he has not met with Huntsman yet, but expects to while he is in Utah.

Huntsman also plans to connect with a Chinese delegation, which includes Communist Party Secretary Zhao Hongzhu and provincial governors from the provinces of Yunnan, Qinghai and Anhui. Huntsman said he helped to arrange the visits to the Salt Lake City conference.

Huntsman also expects to huddle with members of his core fundraising team and is scheduled to have a "donor-appreciation event" at his parents' Deer Valley home.

On Saturday, Huntsman will stage a public event at Plaza Cycle at 1379 W. 3300 South, where he plans to meet supporters.

gehrke@sltrib.comTwitter: @RobertGehrke