Employment grew by a dismal 54,000 in May, with the unemployment rate increasing a fraction to 9.1 percent, further stoking fears that the economic recovery has begun to flag. Economists had expected employment to grow by at least 165,000. 

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The private sector job growth of 83,000 was also well below expectations. Manufacturing dropped by 5,000. The predictions of overall six-digit job growth already had economists worried that the U.S. was on the verge of a double-dip recession. Now, that unease is heightened.

Experts are trying to figure out why the numbers are so low. From Reuters:

Economists had pinned the economy's sluggishness largely on high energy prices, supply chain disruptions stemming from Japan's earthquake and tornadoes and flooding in U.S. Midwest and South. The department said it found "no clear impact" from weather on the jobs figures.

The rate of long-term unemployment has also increased. The percentage of unemployed people unsuccessfully seeking work for 27 weeks or more has increased to 45.1 percent from 43.4 percent. Nearly 1-in-3 unemployed people have been out of work for over a year. Long-term unemployment is a drag on the economy because the longer people remain unemployed, the harder it becomes for them to find work.

The unemployment rate counts only those who are actively looking for jobs. As the Wall Street Journal points out, the rise of the unemployment rate could also show that people who were discouraged before are now re-entering the workforce. 

This could have dire political implications for the political chances of President Barack Obama in the 2012 election. CNN Money reports that the weak job figures, along with bad numbers in manufacturing, housing and consumer confidence could bring down the current administration. The economy remains the No. 1 issue on the minds of voters.

Republican potential candidates took the bait, with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney declaring that the U.S. is "going backwards" under Obama's leadership.

Obama's administration responded to the May figures, saying in a statement that these were not signs of a long-term stall of the recovery, but "bumps in the road." Obama's chief economic adviser Austan Goolsbee defended the overall recovery over the last two years, focusing particularly on the manufacturing numbers: "Despite the decline this month, manufacturing has added 238,000 jobs since the beginning of 2010, the best period of manufacturing job growth in over a decade."

More importantly, as the Economist points out, the real takeaway from the combined sluggish growth numbers is that the recovery now appears to be "comatose." 

Some other highlights from around the web:

1. Huffington Post business editor Peter S. Goodman rips into Obama's leadership and economic policy, zeroing in on the bailout and stimulus packages that were supposed to give the economy time to mend on its own. In Goodman's view, they clearly haven't, and Americans don't need a report to tell them what they already know:

The administration’s housing rescue plan, which failed to grapple with the financial incentives guiding the mortgage industry, handed out modest payment relief to people patient enough and lucky enough to navigate the process, but it was really an attempt to kick the can down the road: Persuade the markets that help was on the way, and hope that, meanwhile, the economy would heal itself, enabling more people to make their monthly payments.

The bailouts of the financial system, which staved off a feared slide into the abyss, were calculated to buy time while health returned, spurring bankers to start lending anew to businesses hungry for capital. The bailouts restored order in a fashion: fat banking profits are back, along with bonuses for the people with the corner offices. But none of this has translated into healthy flows of capital to productive parts of the economy.

2. According to Felix Salmon of Reuters the only visible ray of light in the entire jobs report is that it may kick Congress in the pants to impose real reform and create meaningful legislation. To his own summoning of hope, he adds his own quick response: Yeah, right. "Nothing is going to happen, in terms of remotely important legislation, until 2013, for risk that Obama might be able to take credit for it."

3. Rich Lowry of National Review delivers a screaming op-ed that zeros in on Obama's touting of the "success" of the auto industry bailout. 

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