US: The failure of the US economic recovery to produce jobs has become a key issue in the 2004 campaign, and yesterday the news was grim indeed for the Bush campaign.
Figures for February showed that US payrolls increased by only 21,000, far below economists' estimates of 125,000 new jobs, and only a fraction of the 400,000 a month this year promised by the White House in January.
From now until November, the first Friday of every month - the day the jobs figures are announced - will be awaited with much anticipation by both Republicans and Democrats, as jobs have become a major issue in the presidential election.
Where once the campaign slogan was "It's the economy, stupid!", this year it is changed to: "It's the jobs, stupid!".
The unemployment rate held steady at 5.6 per cent, with all of the gain in government jobs and none in the private sector - further evidence that American jobs from accountancy to call centres are draining abroad to countries like India.
Democratic presidential challenger Senator John Kerry, who has attacked the White House for saying outsourcing was a positive development, said the statistics showed poor handling of the economy.
"At this rate the Bush administration won't create its first job for more than 10 years," he said. "Americans have a clear choice in this election. They can either suffer with more and more job losses that rip the heart out of our economy or they can give George Bush a new job."
In further bad news, the job gains in January were revised to show an increase of just 97,000, down from the 112,000 first estimated a month ago.
Meanwhile, a new poll for the Associated Press brought depressing news for Mr Kerry. It shows that independent Mr Ralph Nader, blamed by Democrats for denying Mr Al Gore the 2000 election, could affect the outcome again this year.
The poll had President Bush leading Senator Kerry by 46 to 45 per cent, with Mr Nader at 6 per cent. In the election four years ago Mr Nader, running as a Green Party candidate, got 2.7 per cent of the vote, but in Florida his poll was much greater than the margin by which Democrat Mr Gore lost to Mr Bush.
Mr Bush's job approval in the poll was 48 per cent, the lowest levels of his presidency. Some 60 per cent of voters said the country was on the wrong track, up from last month.
Mr Terry Holt, a spokesman for the Bush campaign, said: "We're 240-something days from Election Day. We've got a long way to go and expect it to be a close race throughout, no matter what the factors are." Mr Bush's falling poll numbers reflect disarray among Republicans, blamed by observers on a White House preoccupation with fund-raising rather than on policies and party unity.
Mr Bush's support for a constitutional amendment to bar gay marriage last week was announced without consultation with Congressional Republican leaders and caused some confusion on Capitol Hill.
House Republicans are also concerned that his call to make tax cuts permanent will fail because of the huge deficit and continued high spending, and the Speaker, Mr Dennis Hastert, is reported to be angry at the President's failure to prevent the independent 9-11 commission extending its work far into the election season.
Mr Bush's initiative to send a man to Mars has also fallen flat. Former astronaut and Democratic Senator John Glenn testified to a presidential commission on Thursday that the Bush space exploration plan "pulls the rug out from under our scientists" and wastes money.
Republicans scrambled yesterday to defend the Bush-Cheney TV campaign advertisements using a picture of a body being carried from the wrecked World Trade centre, an emotive scene which has upset some relatives of victims.
White House spokesman Mr Scott McClellan said: "September 11th changed the equation in our public policy. It forever changed the world. The President's steady leadership is vital to how we wage war on terrorism."
Attorney General Mr John Ashcroft is in the intensive care unit at George Washington University Hospital after being diagnosed with a severe case of gallstone pancreatitis.