Job Growth Alters Playbook for Obama and His Critics

Job Growth Alters Playbook for Obama and His Critics

After 12 months of up-and-down job creation, the significant increase in March suggested that maybe, just maybe, the economy was gaining enough strength to grow and bring unemployment down substantially this year.

And as the unemployment rate ticked down, the hopes of Mr. Obama and his party ticked up: perhaps by the approaching election year they could claim vindication for the stimulus policies Democrats have enacted, or at least dodge the sort of blame that Republicans so effectively stuck them with last November in the midterm elections.

At the same time it has given Democrats new ammunition to argue that Republican efforts to cut spending could hurt the recovery just as it is gaining traction, and that forcing a government shutdown could put more people out of work.

“You should know that keeping the economy going and making sure jobs are available is the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning,” Mr. Obama said. “It’s the last thing I think about when I go to bed each night.”