Decision 2012: More Temporary Jobs as U.S. Economy Stalls

Jobs are a key issue in the presidential campaign, and the latest U.S. jobs report could be interpreted two different ways. On the upside, 163,000 new jobs were created in July, which was double the number created in June and much better than economists had predicted. On the downside, the unemployment rate edged up to 8.3 percent from 8.2 percent in June. And, the report also showed that temporary jobs continued to rise, up nearly 45 percent since the recession ended in 2009.

Class discussion: Check news reports to see how the jobs report is likely to affect the presidential campaign. Are the campaigns expected to change strategies? How many jobs were lost in the wake of the recession, the banking crisis and collapse of the housing bubble? How many of those jobs have been recovered? What do the candidates propose to do to create more jobs? Given the stalemate between Republicans and Democrats in Washington, could either side do much to improve the economy?