Economic Recovery Appears To Be Stalling

Jobs report not so encouraging

NEW YORK – The economic recovery, which looked promising as the year began, appears ready to stall for the third year in a row. And once more, Washington gets much of the blame.

Friday's disastrous employment report, which showed a gain of just 88,000 jobs, down from 236,000 last month, is a flashing red signal that the economy is again in serious danger.

And it's just the latest in a string of softening numbers. The jobless rate dropped to 7.6 percent in March, but only because nearly half a million people stopped looking for work. The percentage of people in the workforce dropped to 63.3 percent, the lowest level since 1979.