The August employment numbers from the Department of Labor are dismal. According to today’s report, the economy added zero net jobs last month, and unemployment remains at 9.1 percent. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Nonfarm payroll employment was unchanged (0) in August, and the unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment in most major industries changed little over the month. Health care continued to add jobs, and a decline in information employment reflected a strike. Government employment continued to trend down, despite the return of workers from a partial government shutdown in Minnesota.

Household Survey Data

The number of unemployed persons, at 14.0 million, was essentially unchanged in August, and the unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent. The rate has shown little change since April.

It feels like there has been a new piece of bad economic news on an almost daily basis this month. Consumer confidence has tanked, new home sales have dropped and both private and public institutions have revised their short term economic growth forecasts significantly downward. Taken together these reports indicate an economy that has stalled even as economists debate whether we may be heading into a double dip.

Given how important the state of the economy is to Obama’s approval ratings, the odds of Obama winning in 2012 have dropped sharply in the last month.

David Dayen has more.