A Dismal Jobs Report: What's Obama To Do?

motherjones.com — Summers stink for Barack Obama. Last July, the jobs report noted that only 18,000 jobs had been created the previous month. The summer of 2010 saw a dramatic decline in job creation. Today, the news is that the economy only birthed 80,000 jobs last month—far below the expected (or desired) level. For Obama and White House aides—and the rest of us—it's been like Groundhog Day. Every year (with the exception of 2009) seems to start with whiffs of economic promise, and the president's economic advisers come to believe that the economy will finally—finally!— get a real lift. But by spring time, hopes are dashed—often partly because of European economic woes. And the rest of the year is spent explaining (which didn't work too well in 2010) and exhorting Republicans in Congress to act by not blocking action (which worked only marginally in 2011).

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