One economist says the latest employment report "doesn't have a single redeeming feature." Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics says, "It's awful from start to finish."
The report finds that two years after the recession officially ended, companies are adding fewer workers -- despite record stockpiles of cash and healthy profit margins. The jobless rate
rose to 9.2 percent last month, as the economy generated only 18,000 net jobs.
Republicans -- and particularly the ones running for president-- are using today's jobs report as an opportunity to slam President Barack Obama's economic agenda. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty says Obama is "out of answers and running out of time."
In the aftermath of the report, Obama is urging Congress to increase the debt limit, approve some free trade agreements and extend a payroll tax cut. He says the uncertainty over whether
lawmakers will raise the nation's debt limit is keeping businesses from hiring.
