Regarding the economy, things could be worse. President Obama could be trying even harder to help.

Thankfully, the President has been too busy raising money for his 2012 reelection campaign (18 fundraisers in seven weeks, notes National Review campaign reporter Jim Gerraghty) to focus on meddling in the U.S. economy.

Here is what his meddling has produced so far.

On Friday, America was treated to another distressing jobs report. CNBC called it “dismal.” A net of only 54,000 jobs were created in May. If it were just one disappointing report, there might be no cause for alarm. But there is a trend here.

“The recent glut of discouraging economic indicators seems to suggest that the recovery is grinding to a halt,” reported U.S. News & World Report on Thursday, the day before the jobs numbers were released.

“The grim numbers are the latest in a string of disappointing economic readings,” The Washington Post reported on Friday. “Manufacturing is slowing, and consumers are pulling back on spending, according to other data released this week. All point to an economic expansion that is now too sluggish to bring down unemployment to a sustainable level.”

The latest report on home prices showed a drop of 7.5 percent from April of last year. Exclude “distressed” properties, meaning foreclosures, and prices still fell. It’s not just prices that are down. Pending home sales fell even further: 11.6 percent from April to April. March home sales were at their lowest level since 2002.

This would be a good time to recall that the President and Democrats in Congress took action two years ago that they said would restore job growth and the housing market. The stimulus legislation was projected to knock the unemployment rate down to about 8 percent. That didn’t happen, and the rate rose last month to 9.1 percent. The home-buyer tax credit was supposed to jump-start the housing market. It provided a temporary relief, but when the credit ended, so did the brief stimulatory effect.

At his presidential campaign kick-off in Stratham on Thursday, Mitt Romney said that Obama has failed America. He was dead right. The President’s economic recovery policies have failed miserably. They are prolonging the pain, not easing it. For electing a President who has absolutely no understanding of the economy, Americans are paying a high price.