The disappointing August jobs report raises yet another campaign obstacle for President Barack Obama and makes his hopes of holding onto his own job even more challenging—especially in closely contested battleground states with painfully high levels of unemployment.
Coming less than 12 hours after the president accepted his party's nomination for a second term, the lackluster report could wipe out or diminish any traditional bounce in the polls he might have gotten from the festive, well-choreographed three-day Democratic National Convention. "The broad message here is flat, flat, flat," said economist Heidi Shierholz with the labor-affiliated Economic Policy Center. …
The bleak news played right into the hands of Republicans, who claim that Obama's policies inhibit job production and have made the economic picture worse. "Did you see the jobs report this morning by the way?" Republican rival Mitt Romney asked reporters in Sioux City, Iowa. "Almost 400,000 people dropped out of the work force altogether. It's is simply unimaginable." …
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