The Sydney Morning Herald
Plunge in jobs growth renews political threat to Obama
June 5, 2011
WASHINGTON: The US President, Barack Obama, pictured, is facing a rising threat from potentially his toughest re-election opponent: the American economy.
Non-farm job growth slowed to 54,000 in May, down from 244,000 in April and the smallest gain in eight months, the Labour Department reported. The unemployment rate rose to 9.1 per cent, the highest level this year.
''If job creation doesn't continue on the pace it's been on in recent months, that's going to be an enormous hurdle for the President,'' said Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist.
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The jobs report was the latest economic indicator to suggest the recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s has hit a soft patch, with the presidential election 18 months away.
US consumer spending slowed in the first quarter of the year and confidence levels have since fallen.
Manufacturing growth, a consistent contributor to the recovery, weakened across the globe in May. US home prices in March dropped to the lowest level since 2003.
''It highlights the tenuous nature of things,'' said Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. ''Everybody has been through so much it really doesn't take much to push people over the proverbial edge.''
Mr Obama has not suffered in the polls so far. Gallup's daily poll showed him with an average 51 per cent job approval from May 31 to June 2.
Bloomberg
http://www.smh.com.au/world/plunge-in-jobs-growth-renews-political-threat-to-obama-20110604-1fm1t.html
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