The last major economic report before the November elections is out and it is not good news for the Obama administration and Democratic candidates campaigning for seats in Congress.

The September unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.6 percent. For what little consolation it is, the rate had been forecast to be 9.7 percent, but "not as bad as expected" and "it could have been worse" make poor campaign slogans.

The White House will put the best possible face on it, saying in essence, "The economy is improving; not as fast as we would like, but it (ital) is (end ital) improving." Unfortunately, there are too many people who will find little comfort in that reassurance: the 14.8 million who are out of work; another 9.5 million, up a million since July, who can only find part-time work; and 2.5 million would-be workers who are so discouraged they quit looking altogether...

The Democrats' agenda of jobs and tax cuts has begun to lose support within the party's own ranks, even as House and Senate members rush to finish their pre-election business and return home to seek votes for November's midterms.

A last-ditch jobs bill backed by Senate Democrats, designed to punish companies that shift jobs overseas, collapsed in the face of a bipartisan filibuster Tuesday, even as nearly four dozen House Democrats signed a letter breaking with party leaders and urging that at least some of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for higher-income taxpayers be extended past the end of this year.

The moves mark a rocky ending as Congress puts off much of its agenda and seeks to adjourn this week with plans to return after the elections in order to pass spending bills, address the tax cuts and possibly tackle immigration, as well as the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy of gays in the military, and climate-change legislation...

After months of being bashed for having no agenda, other than attacking Democrats, Republican leaders are gearing up to unveil a detailed "governing document" of their own.

While it's drawing comparisons to 1994's "Contract with America," sources say this new document is very different. There will be no grand unveiling on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, with scores of lawmakers and candidates signing on the dotted line. Instead, the new plan will be rolled out at a suburban Virginia lumber yard just outside Washington.

Themes are expected to include: job creation, cutting government spending and repealing or counteracting recent health care legislation. That's welcome news to the man who is the president of Tart Lumber Company, Craig Fritsche. Come Thursday, he's hoping to hear GOP leaders say that they plan to push to extend Bush-era tax cuts - for all income levels...

New jobless benefits claims jumped last week to their highest rate since November, and Congress' chief scorekeeper said Thursday that the ongoing recovery has been "anemic" compared with past rebounds from deep recessions.

The Congressional Budget Office said that poor economic performance has sapped tax revenues and, when coupled with massive government spending designed to lift the economy, the federal government will run a $1.3 trillion deficit in fiscal 2010, a slight decrease from last year's record total.

CBO said the economy will grow at a 2 percent pace over the next year, and the unemployment rate will average 9 percent next year and won't fall to 5 percent until 2014...

The summer of the discontented voter steams onward and, unfortunately for President Obama, polls show voters are no longer blaming the bad times on the George W. Bush administration.

Add Hispanics to the growing list of Obama supporters disgruntled by aspects of the presidents performance, in what has become for the White House and Democrats a seemingly daily beat of gloomy polls.

Mr. Obama gets only lukewarm ratings on issues important to Hispanics in a Univision/AP poll released Tuesday, and, according to a separate Reuters-Ipsos survey, Americans overwhelmingly believe the president has failed to focus enough on job creation...

(CNSNews.com) – A majority of Americans believe President Barack Obama’s has harmed economic growth, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll Friday.

Less than a third, 29 percent, believe that the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus package, improved the economy. Meanwhile, 43 percent believe it hurt the economy.

The survey was released the same day that the Labor Department released its monthly figures showing that while the number of job cuts were 125,000, the unemployment rate went down from 9.7 percent to 9.5 percent, or two-tenths of a percentage point. President Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus package in February 2009, vowing the bill would save or create 3.5 million to 4 million jobs...

As President Obama tries to hotwire Congress into tackling what's left of his campaign-trail promises, the economic picture is taking a severe turn -- one that may require him to once again recalibrate his ambitions in an election year.

The housing and unemployment numbers out Thursday morning underscored a disturbing trend. With the expiration of the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit, national figures from May suggest the real estate market is not ready to stand up on its own.

The National Association of Realtors released a report Thursday showing the number of buyers under contract plummeted 30 percent in May to the lowest level on record. That was after the Commerce Department reported last week that new home sales fell 33 percent last month, also to the lowest level on record.

New jobless claims also rose for the second time in three weeks, ahead of the release of June's unemployment number, which is expected to show only the slightest increase in private sector jobs...

While in high school, I was standing at a bus stop next to a gas station. A kid tossed a candy wrapper on the station lot. Somebody yelled, "Hey, pick that up." The kid, with a straight face, defended himself. He said, "I just created a job." Someone would be hired, he explained, to pick up the trash, and this would be good for the economy.

Don't laugh. The kid probably works for the Obama administration.

Congress is now considering yet another "stimulus" package. But did the administration's previous one work? Of the $787 billion stimulus package, President Obama said it would "save or create" 3.5 million new jobs. Has it?....

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its May employment report on Friday, showing a spike of 431,000 new jobs. But there is a catch on exactly what type of work these numbers reflect -- 411,000 of the 431,000 increase are temporary government Census workers.

The unemployment rate in May dropped from 9.9 percent in April to 9.7 percent. But economists note that 286,000 workers left the labor force because many gave up on finding a job, effectively reducing the labor force participation rate.

By contrast, hiring by private employers -- the backbone of the economy -- slowed dramatically. They added just 41,000 jobs, down from 218,000 in April and the fewest since January. To prevent the unemployment rate from increasing, about 125,000 new jobs are needed each month...

WASHINGTON – The number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week by the largest amount in three months. The surge is evidence of how volatile the job market remains, even as the economy grows.

Applications for unemployment benefits rose to 471,000 last week, up by 25,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the first increase in five weeks and the biggest jump since a gain of 40,000 in February.

The total was the highest since new claims reached 480,000 on April 10. It also pushed the average for the last four weeks to 453,500...