By TOM RAUM
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – The economic die is cast, and it’s grim news for Democrats. There’s nothing now that Congress or President Barack Obama can do before the November elections to jolt the nation’s listless recovery.
Friday’s unemployment report – the last major economic news before the midterms – showed the nation continued to lose jobs last month, reinforcing the bleak reality that it probably will be not months but years before the jobless rate returns to pre-recession levels below 6 percent.
With nearly 15 million Americans still without work, that increases the pressure on Democrats ahead of the Nov. 2 elections. And it also casts a dark shadow well into the 2012 election season and beyond.