It’s not looking good for President Obama. The new jobs report revealed that the U.S. economy only created 69,000 jobs in May – the fewest in a year – while the unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent.
STORY: The Republicans’ $1 Billion Blitz!
This latest report could prove to be damaging to Obama’s re-election campaign, as the economy will surely be a hot button issue.
According to the Labor Department, the economy created far fewer jobs in the previous two months than first thought. It revised those figures down to show 49,000 fewer jobs created. The unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent in April, the first increase in 11 months.
The economy is averaging just 73,000 jobs per month over the past two months – roughly a third of 226,000 jobs created per month in the January-March quarter.
Republicans wasted little time attacking Obama on the dismal report. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said:
“Today’s extremely troubling jobs report proves yet again that President Obama’s policies simply are not working and that he has failed to live up to the promise of his presidency.”
So how do the numbers break down?
Construction firms cut 28,000 jobs, the steepest drop in two years. Professional services, government, hotels, restaurants and other leisure industries also lost jobs.
Not all industries cut jobs. Manufacturers added 12,000 jobs. Transportation and warehousing created nearly 36,000. Education and health care added jobs.
Businesses are facing a growing threat from Europe’s financial crisis, which has worsened in recent weeks. The crisis is driving up borrowing costs for Spain and Italy and spreading to the banking system. Greece could be forced to exit the Euro, which could push the region into a sharp recession. That could limit U.S. growth.
