The percentage of Americans working or looking for work has fallen to its lowest level in more than 30 years, according to gloomy economic figures that are a major blow to Barack Obama’s hopes of re-election

This stark participation figure of the proportion of Americans in work will underline the sense of continued crisis at a time when the views of voters on the economy are crystallizing. Although the April 2012 unemployment rate dropped to 8.1%, this was mainly due to discouraged workers giving up hope and leaving the labor force. Only 115,000 jobs were added, the lowest number since a slow economic recovery began in August 2011, and the number of people in work fell by 342,000. Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, used the figures to reinforce his central message that Obama, who inherited a 7.8% unemployment rate from George W. Bush, cannot be trusted to manage the economy.