ROCHESTER (AP) — The answers to fixing Michigan’s ailing economy lie not in junking free trade agreements but in retooling the skills of laid-off manufacturing workers, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said during a campaign stop in the state Wednesday.

‘‘The problem is not free trade ... we have not cared for the displaced worker,’’ McCain said at a town hall meeting at Oakland University, north of Detroit.

‘‘Innovation is here in the great state of Michigan — the birthplace of the modern automobile industry,’’ he said. ‘‘Of course, the old kinds of doing business (are) not coming back. But the new innovation and new technology and green technology that will both eliminate our dependence on foreign oil as well as greenhouse gas emissions is right here in the state of Michigan.’’

His message was more nuanced than when he said before Michigan’s Jan. 15 primary that ‘‘there are some jobs that aren’t coming back to Michigan.