Obama has 'bold proposals' on jobs

The US economy added no net new jobs in August, according to the key non-farm payrolls figures from the Department of Labor.

The August number was much worse than had been expected - the predicted figure was an addition of about 70,000 new jobs.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged from July at 9.1%.

Speaking to the BBC, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis admitted that more needed to be done but insisted that President Barack Obama had some "bold proposals" to present next Thursday, when he is to outline a new plan for boosting growth and creating jobs.