Will Economy Push Washington To Make A Deal?

The Obama administration is searching for a “sweet spot” in economic policy: measures that could increase job growth right now without worsening the federal deficit. That task gained new urgency this month when the Labor Department reported a sharp slowdown in job growth in May.

The challenge could force the president to try to revive his “grand bargain” with Republicans.

For the first couple of months this year, the sun shone on the U.S. job market, which seemed to be recovering without much help from Washington. Storm clouds began to gather in the past three months, though. Former White House economic adviser Larry Summers says the outlook now is a lot less rosy.