Economy Won't Save Democrats in November

Friday's disappointing jobs report provided a bookend to the false hope of another "recovery summer." The number of jobs created in August fell short of economists' expectations by more than 100,000. The weak gain in August also snapped a six-month streak of more than 200k jobs gains each month, itself an anemic goal. For a sixth year, hopes of an economic turnaround in summer went out with the Labor Day trash.

Just over a month ago, the Washington media was fretting that Democrats wouldn't get "credit" for the improving economy. The economy had clocked several months of job gains above 200k, a level understood in previous Administrations to mean "keeping up with population growth." The economy had experienced a sharp contraction in the 1st Quarter, but the media explained that this was due to cold weather, a phenomenon previously known as "winter."

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