From The Washington Post:

This week's White House jobs "summit" will try to revive employment growth, but it will be a hard slog. Job creation is fundamentally a private-sector process, and the private economy is experiencing a broad retreat from credit-driven spending. Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com reports this astonishing figure: Since last spring, the number of bank credit cards has dropped 100 million, about 25 percent. Banks are tightening credit standards (partly in reaction to new credit card legislation designed to protect borrowers from rate increases), and consumers are canceling cards.

Meanwhile, empty office buildings, shuttered retail stores and underutilized factories have depressed business investment spending. In the third quarter, it was down 20 percent from its 2008 peak. Despite huge federal budget deficits, total borrowing in the economy dropped in the first half of the year; this hasn't happened in statistics dating to 1952.

Companies hire mainly when they see greater demand for their products and believe that extra workers will generate higher profits. More jobs then elevate confidence and demand. But for now, the logic is running in reverse.  More here.