A new set of dismal labour market figures shows the US economy being dragged down by a toxic housing market After receiving congratulations for a particularly bloody victory over the Romans, the Greek general Pyrrhus is said by Plutarch to have replied: “One more such victory will undo me.” And so it is with the latest Pyrrhic employment data in the US – a few more months of similar “recovery” will ruin Barack Obama – not to mention the American economy.