White House expects grim jobs report

STRASBOURG, France -- President Obama's spokesman says the White House is expecting a new employment report to show additional "severe job cuts" in the U.S.

Press secretary Robert Gibbs says the report on March employment that is due out later Friday would be gloomy. He says he did not know if Obama had been given a heads-up about the numbers but thinks that the president probably did get advance word.

Gibbs says he has not seen the numbers himself. He spoke to reporters traveling with Obama aboard Air Force One.

Presidents are traditionally given advance word on major economic reports.

The Labor Department is releasing the employment report Friday morning. It is expected to show that a net total of 654,000 jobs were lost last month.