Congress returns, unpopular as well as divided

By DAVID ESPO AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress returns to work this coming week, divided over measures to create jobs and scorned by the nation it was elected to help lead.

After a five-week break, Republican and Democratic leaders are promising action to try and ease the country's 9.1 percent unemployment rate and boost a barely growing economy.

President Barack Obama goes first, with a speech to lawmakers and a prime-time national television audience Thursday night.

But there's little overlap so far in the measures that Republicans and Democrats are recommending, and the rest of the year-end congressional agenda is top-heavy with items that relate to government spending and less directly to job creation.