Democrats slam Bush on gloomy jobs report

By Donna Smith

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats seized on a gloomy U.S. jobs report on Friday to deride President George W. Bush's economic policies, while the White House defended its record on what is becoming a key issue in November's election.

"Today's dismal jobs news should put to rest any doubts that our economy is in deep trouble," Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said in a statement after a government report showed a second straight month of U.S. job losses.

"This troubling news comes at the end of a week where oil topped $104 a barrel and we learned that home foreclosures hit an all time high in the fourth quarter of 2007."

The Labor Department reported the U.S. economy lost 63,000 jobs last month, after 22,000 jobs were lost in January.

Adding to the dismal employment picture, the department said only 41,000 jobs were created in December -- half the 82,000 originally estimated.

Bush said the economy had slowed but the government had administered a "booster shot" through a stimulus package whose impact would start to be seen in coming months.

"Losing a job is painful and I know Americans are concerned about our economy. So am I," Bush said.

"It's clear our economy has slowed. But the good news is we anticipated this and took decisive action to bolster the economy by passing a growth package that will put money into the hands of American workers and businesses."