German Chancellor pays visit to the White House.

A record number of Americans, nearly six in ten, now disapprove of how the president is running the economy.

"Obviously we're experiencing some headwinds," President Obama admitted Tuesday.

Mr. Obama was on the defensive during in a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"The recovery that we're on is not producing jobs ands a quickly as I want it to happen," he admitted.

He said the biggest problem now is high fuel prices.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that private sector hiring dropped almost 5% in April.

As he welcomed Chancellor Merkel, the president was paying the price.

His job approval, which spiked up after the killing of Osama bin Laden, is down below 50%.

59% disapprove of Mr. Obama's handling of the economy, a new low in the Washington Post/ABC News poll.

It leaves him open to attack by Republican candidates like Tim Pawlenty.

"The President wrongly thought the stimulus, the bailouts and the takeovers were the solution. He says they worked. They did not," Pawlenty told supporters in Chicago.

The Washington Post/ABC poll found President Obama ahead of most possible Republican candidates, but tied with Mitt Romney, seen by many voters as strong on the economy.