After a month in which President Obama’s re-election campaign picked up steam, it was hit by hard economic realities. Poor manufacturing data was released this week. A weak jobless report is likely to be released this Friday. These are reminders that President Obama has a lot of work to do to convince voters that he can still improve the economy when given a chance for another term in office.
The president gained points when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of his healthcare reform measure as well as the expansion of the immigration laws. These placed his Republican rival on the defensive and the immigration issue may soon fade away from memory.
Data released Monday showed that manufacturing decreased in June for the first time in almost three years. This is evidence that the economy is slowing down and Europe’s debt crisis has affected the U. S. economy.
The monthly jobless numbers is also expected to be lackluster. This has been the most closely watched economic indicator. Economic observers expect nonfarm payrolls to increase by 90,000 jobs in June. They also predict unemployment rate to stay unchanged at 8.2 percent. Employers have increased hiring but not enough to dismiss concerns that the economy is slowing down.
Because of the economic slowdown, Romney is expected to attack President Obama and his administration for not creating jobs. But his economic criticism was overshadowed by the Supreme Court ruling that Obama’s healthcare reform law was constitutional.
Romney faced difficulty in explaining his stand on immigration after President Obama forced the issue on the agenda to stop possible deportations of young illegal immigrants. The debate has helped the president get voters to his side.
The Obama campaign is now on a two day campaign bus tour through Ohio and western Pennsylvania Thursday. He wants to remind voters that his bailout of the U. S. auto industry helped save jobs in the region.