BoatBanter.com - The Bush job picture looks dismal

Jobless rate stuck at 5.6 percent in February as jobs grow slows

JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press Writer
Friday, March 5, 2004

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(03-05) 07:37 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

America's unemployment rate remained stuck at 5.6 percent in February
as the economy added a paltry 21,000 positions. The figures dramatized
the relative scarcity of new jobs in a week in which President Bush
shoved his re-election campaign into high gear.

The latest snapshot of the employment climate released by the Labor
Department Friday depicted the painfully slow job growth the country
has been enduring. The net gain in payrolls in February fell well
short of the 125,000 jobs that economists had been forecasting.

"Employers are still very, very cautious about adding bodies," said a
disappointed Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock. "If you are
out there looking for a job, this is bad news," he said.

Moreover, the job gains in January were revised to show a pickup of
just 97,000 positions, down from the 112,000 first estimated a month
ago.

Nevertheless, the overall seasonally adjusted civilian unemployment
rate stayed at 5.6 percent in February as thousands of prospective
workers gave up looking for a job. Approximately 392,000 people left
the civilian work force in February from January.

The health of the nation's economy, especially the job climate, is a
major issue in this year's presidential race.

Slow job growth has been a sore spot for Bush. Presumptive Democratic
presidential challenger John Kerry has seized upon this as evidence of
what he contends is Bush's poor handling of the economy.

"At this rate the Bush administration won't create its first job for
more than 10 years. Americans have a clear choice in this election,"
Kerry said. "They can either suffer with more and more job losses that
rip the heart out of our economy or they can give George Bush a new
job."