Weak U.S. job market bodes ill for Democrats in lead up to midterm elections

The still weak U.S. job market could hurt Democrats just weeks before voters cast their ballots in November's midterm Congressional elections, as millions remain unemployed amid sluggish economic growth.

With just weeks before November's elections, many experts forecast a shift in Senate control from Democrats to Republicans that will result in a Republican-led Congress.

Indeed, six years after the American economy took a nose dive in the worst recession in decades, millions are still out of work. While the unemployment rate is down to a six-year low, that indicator is calculated by the number of people actively seeking work, and discounts the army of workforce dropouts that have given up the job hunt out of sheer frustration.

A more telling figure, the labor force participation rate, shows a fuller picture, standing at less than 63 percent -- the lowest since 1978.

While the economy's top end is recovering -- corporations are fairing well and the stock market is surging -- many at the lower end of the economic totem poll have not seen the benefits. And that is creating hurdles for Democrats, experts said.

"The economy is the biggest issue facing the United States. There is a recovery but it is uneven and there still are a number of people having problems finding jobs," Brookings Institution's senior fellow Darrell West told Xinhua. "This acts as a drag on President (Barack) Obama's popularity and creates serious difficulties for Democrats."

Republican candidates' strategy has been to lay back somewhat.

"Republicans don't have to do much on this issue because the economy already is front and center for the electorate. They get the benefits of this issue without having to attack very much," he said.

Polls show that both Democrats and Republicans are overwhelmingly concerned with employment, and a Gallup poll published earlier this month found that 89 percent of Democrats and 83 percent of Republicans are concerned with the availability of good jobs.

That figure bodes ill for Democrats, as six years of a Democrat- controlled White House have not spurred economic growth robust enough to boost healthy jobs growth.

International Monetary Fund figures released earlier this month showed the U.S. economy expects to grow a paltry 2.2 percent this year. At that rate, it will take years for the U.S. to return to pre-recession levels of employment, economists say, as the numbers are not keeping up with population growth and the number of new entrants into the labor force.

Some fret over the possibility of a lost decade for millions of Americans, as people out of work more than six months -- the so- called long-term unemployed -- are finding the job hunt an uphill climb, as potential employers tend to steer clear of applicants who have not worked for lengthy periods. Many argue that when all these factors are tallied, they do not add up to a strong U.S. economy.

The U.S. business community has expressed much concern, contending that business owners are feeling the burden of too much regulation, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce saying this is " creating uncertainty, stifling hiring and investment, and undermining our recovery."

New York City Chamber of Commerce board member Gene Panasenko contended that the current administration is not promoting free enterprise.

"Regulations are choking businesses. I speak from the standpoint of dealing with small business owners on a regular basis. Many, many iconic names here in New York City have gone out of business because they just could not keep up with regulations from Washington," Panasenko, also a financial consultant and wealth manager at LPL Financial, told Xinhua. "The government keeps expanding, they keep producing more regulations that have nothing to do with allowing businesses to grow, and they really have nothing to do with protecting consumers."

That opinion is shared by many in the U.S. state of Kentucky, where large numbers blame the Obama administration's environmental policies for harming the coal industry and putting many out of work, according to U.S. news reports.

The sentiment is so strong that Democratic candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes grabbed national headlines in recent weeks for refusing to admit publicly that she had voted for Obama in the last presidential elections. Grimes appeared to be trying to distance herself from Obama, who is deeply unpopular in the state. Enditem