Wednesday, September 07, 2011

US Stocks and Obama's Approval Ratings Fall

US stocks drop over recession fears

Tue Sep 6, 2011 8:18PM
presstv.ir

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the end of the day on September 2, 2011 in New York City.

US stocks have opened lower over renewed fears of the European debt crisis as well as worries the US economy might be heading towards a double dip recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 2.4 percent in the early hours of trading, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor's 500 index as well as the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 2.5 percent and 2.2 percent respectively.

Asian stocks have also dropped over fears of a possible worsening of the European debt crises.

Japanese markets closed with its shares down by two percent, marking a two-year low, while South Korean stocks lost more than 1 percent.

European stocks, however, did not experience any sharp fall despite their markets' drop by some 4 percent on Monday.

According to a US Labor Department report, nonfarm payroll employment was unchanged in August, and the unemployment rate held at a steady 9.1 percent.

Some experts have said that with the current pace of job creation, the US will not be able to reach its pre-recession level of overall employment until 2017.


Obama's approval rate hits record low

Tue Sep 6, 2011 3:44PM GMT

A new poll shows that US President Barack Obama's approval rating has hit a record low as there seems to be no end in sight to the economic crisis in the United States.

The poll, jointly conducted by Washington Post and ABC News, found that 53 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama's job performance and 77 percent think the country is on the wrong track.

The survey, which was published on Monday, also illustrated that 35 percent of Americans believe they have become worse off financially under Obama's presidency.

The poll also found that a majority of Americans were angry with Republicans and they had lost their confidence in the Republican-dominated US Congress.

About 68 percent of those polled disapprove of the job performance of the right-wing GOP lawmakers.

The economy, the creations of jobs and the country's budget deficit were among the biggest concerns for the respondents to the poll.

This comes as the US announced last week that August 2011 was the first month of zero job creation since 1945.

According to a US Labor Department report, nonfarm payroll employment was unchanged in August, and the unemployment rate was held at a steady 9.1 percent.

Some experts have said that with the current pace of job creation, the US will not be able to reach its pre-recession level of overall employment until 2017.

Obama is scheduled to deliver a major speech to the US Congress on Thursday regarding his administration's plans for creating jobs as well as stimulating economic growth.

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