Jobless Figures Could Emphasize Bush's Big Weakness

[Nicholas_J]

By RICHARD W. STEVENSON

Published: September 2, 2004


bout 10 hours after President Bush accepts his party's nomination tonight, the government will release an important report on the state of the economy. Even some of his allies say that if it is weak it could dampen Republican enthusiasm coming out of the convention and leave Mr. Bush on the defensive for a pivotal issue heading into the campaign homestretch.

Economists do not expect the employment report tomorrow to show terribly strong growth in jobs.


With economic statistics over the last month suggesting that the recovery has slowed or even faltered, Mr. Bush is heading into the final two months of the campaign vulnerable to any further bad economic news, especially in swing states like Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, where employment losses have hit hard.

So on a day when unions organized a three-mile line of demonstrators waving pink slips to dramatize job losses, Republicans put a group of small-business owners and elected officials on stage last night at the party's convention to talk up economic progress. Three families spoke about how they benefited from the president's tax cuts

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/02/politics/campaign/02econ.html