June unemployment report is bad news for President Obama: voter confidence on economy drops

President Obama's bummer of a summer continued Friday with stocks tumbling after a disastrous jobs report showed a rise in unemployment to 9.2% in June.

U.S. companies added just 18,000 jobs, the fewest in nine months.

It's a blow to Obama, whose reelection chances hinge on an improved economy, especially in hard-hit states like Florida, Michigan and Nevada, where unemployment rates remain high.

No President since Franklin Roosevelt has won reelection with an unemployment rate higher than 7.2% on Election Day.

"Today's job report confirms what most Americans already know. We still have a long way to go," Obama said during a statement he delivered from the White House.

He attributed the slowdown to state and local budget cuts, uncertainty over the debt limit deal, roiling oil prices and economic turmoil in Greece.

Republicans pounced on Obama just minutes after the report came out.

"Today's report is more evidence that the misguided 'stimulus' spending binge, excessive regulations, and an overwhelming national debt continue to hold back private-sector job creation in our country," Speaker of the House John Boehner said in a statement.

GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann chimed in.

"Today's unemployment report is another stark reminder of the failure of President Obama's economic policies," said the Tea Party favorite.

Former Massachusetts GOP Gov. Mitt Romney called report "abysmal" and accused the Obama Administration of having a "cavalier attitude" towards the economy.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pointed his finger at the GOP.

"I hope the news that our economy is not creating jobs at an acceptable rate will cause Republicans to start taking job creation seriously. So far this year, Republicans have derailed every common-sense, bipartisan jobs bill we have brought to the floor," he said.

Obama's approval rating on the economy has dropped five points from last month, according to a recent CBS News poll.

More than half of those surveyed, 54%, said they disapproved of the President's handling of the economy.

The President said there are a number of initiatives the govement can embark on right now, including putting construction workers on infrastructure projects, cutting the deficit and reforming the country's patent process.

The President tied the pending deal to increase the nation's debt ceiling to jobs. The sooner a compromise is reached, "the sooner we give our businesses the certainty they need, "he said.
The White House's top political adviser, David Plouffe, argued Thursday that Americans won't vote in 2012 based on the unemployment rate.

"The average American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers," Plouffe said, according to Bloomberg.

"People won't vote based on the unemployment rate, they're going to vote based on: 'How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the President makes decisions based on me and my family?'"