US voters frustrated

US: Boarded-up homes and empty storefronts dot this once prosperous Indiana town where those still struggling to recover from the economic collapse of 2008 have a simple message for politicians ahead of key mid-term elections: fix the economy, stupid.

While the worst economic downturn to strike the United States since the Great Depression may have officially ended in June of last year, some 14.1 million people across the country remain officially unemployed. That's a strong improvement from the 16.1 million who were actively looking for work when unemployment peaked at 10.6 percent in January.

But it's a far cry from where things were a couple years ago when jobs were plentiful, and the unemployment rate hovered around five percent.

Polls show that around 60 percent of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction and about three quarters think Congress is doing a bad job.

Incumbents across the country and President Barack Obama's Democrats in particular are expected to take a big hit at the polls on November 2.

Roger Fox, 57, laughed when asked if he thinks politicians are doing a good job of handling the economy.

He's been out of work for a year now and would rather place his faith in prayer. Things are starting to look up, he said as he filled a cart at a busy food bank in Elkhart, Indiana.

"Target called me for Christmas help," he said, referring to the large retailer. "This is the first time in a long time I've had a call for an interview." Elkhart Mayor Dick Moore is unabashedly optimistic about the economy and credits Obama's stewardship and a massive government-funded stimulus program for averting a much deeper downturn.

"If the rest of the nation underwent the same recovery in unemployment as we have we'd be in good shape," Moore told AFP.

AFP