President Bush Taken Aback by Bad Economic News

Lagging economic indicators are nagging U.S. president George W. Bush, who is seeking a second term. A report released on August 6 shows that the US created 32,000 jobs in July, the lowest figure since last December. The figure indicates that the U.S. is losing momentum in creating jobs since last August, when 1.5 million jobs were made available.

The Washington Post reported on Saturday that the president’s campaign team was taken aback by the disappointing employment report. The New York Times said that the weak economic indicators came out at a time when the president is trying to boost his support through the Republican National Convention.

“Millions of jobs were lost to closedowns and outsourcing, but President Bush is supporting a tax system that is only favorable to businesses that move abroad,” said the Kerry campaign team in a TV ad attacking the president.

“The president keeps saying we’ve turned the corner, but unfortunately, today’s job numbers further demonstrate that our economy may be taking a U-turn instead,” criticized Democratic candidate Kerry.

An opinion poll released by TIME magazine on Saturday shows Kerry ahead with 48 percent support and Bush with 43 percent.

The poll also revealed that 27 percent of respondents picked the economy as the key election issue, followed by terror and war, which received 18 and nine percent, respectively.

Soon-Taek Kwon maypole@donga.com