bnsf, the engine that connects us. pacific life-- the power to help you succeed.illiam and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brown: the u.s. economy gave fresh evidence today that the recovery may be losing steam, and there were growing questions about what, if anything, the government can do about it. the latest signs of trouble came from major retailers, like target, reporting consumers pulled back on spending in may. data from mastercard pointed to the same concern, showing americans are shelling out less on everything from furniture to electronics to clothing. and the payroll company adp says private employers added just 38,000 jobs last month, the smallest increase since september. american businesses, in fact, cut back orders for computers, cars, and heavy machin

bnsf, the engine that connects us. pacific life-- the power to help you succeed.illiam and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: a new report out today shows the state of the housing market has grown even more bleak. the new figures from standard and poor's found home prices have continued to drop for more than two consecutive quarters. homes lost value in all but one of the 20 major markets tracked by the case-shiller index during the first three months of this year. compared to a year ago, prices are down 7% or more in several cities. and in atlanta, cleveland, detroit, and las vegas, prices are headed toward levels last seen more than a decade ago. but what is driving this stubborn downward pressure? for that, we turn to rick sharga, senior vice president of realty

. >> and by bnsf railway. pacificife-- the power to help youucceed. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy productive life. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the government's new job numbers today showed a sharp slowdown in hiring, and a small increase in the unemployment rate. they added to growing questions about how long it will take for millions of americans to get back on a payroll. at job fairs across the country, the search for work is getting harder and harder, as the latest labor department figures bear out. in may, the economy added a net of 54,000 new jobs, well below expectations. and with more people entering the work force, the unemployment rate rose from 9% to 9.1%. private employers took on just over 80,000 new

bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy productive life. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: there was more top- level talk today about raising the nation's borrowing limit, the so-called debt ceiling. this time, the setting was the white house, with president obama playing host to some of his toughest critics. >> reporter: on a sweltering washington morning, house republicans mustered at the executive mansion for the high- stakes talks on the debt limit. >> i think it was an opportunity for, clearly, our members to communicate directly with the president about our ideas about how to get the economy going again, how to create jobs, and our ideas about how we solve the debt problem that's facing our country. >> lehrer: the meeting followed last night's la