U.S. job growth, economy stuck in doldrums

Slackening U.S. and global growth likely means the nation’s unemployment rate will remain stuck around 8%, reducing the odds of a faster economic recovery kicking in before the end of the year.

The lackluster state of the economy was made readily apparent again last week by the preliminary report on second-quarter gross domestic product. Growth slowed to 1.5% from 2.0% in the first quarter and 4.1% in the fourth quarter. That’s about half the rate economists would expect in a healthy recovery several years after a recession ends.