- George Bush yesterday became the first US president since
Herbert Hoover in the Depression to preside over a loss of jobs when the
last set of employment figures published before next month's election
showed
only a modest improvement in September.
-
- On the day that President Bush was preparing for his
second televised debate with his Democrat challenger, John Kerry, he was
given the unwelcome news that more than 800,000 jobs had been shed in the
past four years.
-
- The bureau of labour statistics (BLS) said that non-farm
payrolls rose by 96,000 in September - weaker than the 148,000 increase
predicted by the financial markets and not enough to compensate for the
employment losses suffered during the recession that accompanied the
beginning
of Mr Bush's presidency.
-
- With opinion polls suggesting that Mr Bush lost the first
of the three debates, analysts said the eagerly anticipated employment
report would allow Mr Kerry to say that the war in Iraq had resulted in
the president neglecting problems at home.
-
- Steven Andrew, an economist at ISIS Asset Management,
said: "The September non-farm payroll data represented the final
opportunity
for the labour market report to help President Bush keep his own job.
Unfortunately
for the president, the report played into the hands of John Kerry in
confirming
Bush as having presided over an economy which has cut 821,000 jobs over
his tenure."
-
- Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics said the only good
news for the president from yesterday's data was that the bureau of labour
statistics said it would be revising upwards the level of payrolls by
236,000
in January.
-
- "Unfortunately, even allowing for that upward
revision,
Bush is now confirmed as the first president since Hoover to have overseen
a net loss of jobs during his presidential term," Mr Ashworth
added.
-
- Wall Street believes that the lack of vigorous job
creation
from the stuttering US economy may persuade the Federal Reserve Board to
postpone an expected increase in American interest rates next month.
-
- Analysts said the "soft spot" in the economy
was persisting, with high oil prices helping to put the brake on growth.
Crude futures remained just below $53 a barrel in New York yesterday,
despite
the end of a strike by oil workers in Nigeria.
-
- The dollar fell sharply on the foreign exchanges
following
the release of the jobs data in Washington. It lost more than 1% against
the euro, lost ground against the Swiss franc and suffered its biggest
one-day fall against the yen in more than a year, posting a ·1.8
drop. Sterling, which hit an eight-month low against the euro at 69.23
pence, gained three-quarters of a cent against the American currency to
just over $1.79.
-
- The Bush camp put a brave face on the employment
statistics
numbers. John Snow, the US treasury secretary, said: "Clearly we are
on the right path. I am confident we will see that continue."
-
- Officials at the BLS said the four hurricanes last month
could not be blamed for the weakness of job creation, saying the impact
on the labour market was minor.
-
- The service sector saw the strongest employment gains
last month, adding 109,000 positions, of which 33,000 were part-time. The
manufacturing sector - important in the swing states of America's
industrial
heartland - shed 18,000 jobs in September.
-
- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
-
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004
- /story/0,13918,1323503,00.html
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