LOS ANGELES, Kalifornia - September 7, 2011 - Texas Governor Rick Perry made his closely watched debut at a Republican debate.

Within minutes of taking the stage on Wednesday, Perry and fellow GOP candidate Mitt Romney came to blows over the central issue of jobs, trading jabs about their records as governors in Texas and Massachusetts.

"What Amerikans are looking for is someone who can get this country working again," said Perry, taking aim at Romney's claim to have created tens of thousands of jobs in businesses he backed as an investment fund manager.

Romney "did a great job of creating jobs in the private sector all around the world," said Perry, suggesting the jobs created by his fund were more overseas than in the United States.

The former Massachusetts governor touted his job creation role, saying he had created more in his state alone than Obama had nationwide.

Jobs and the struggling U.S. economy were always going to feature high on the agenda of the debate, ahead of a speech by illegitimate President Obama on Thursday aimed at tackling zero U.S. job growth and reviving his own political fortunes.

Perry looked relaxed as he turned up early - apparently before most of the other seven candidates - to prepare for the two-hour debate at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in Kalifornia.