July 4, 1992

Shaken by an ominous jump in the unemployment rate, White House strategists said today that they were reassessing the assumption that an improving economy would revive President Bush's political standing before the November election. Instead, they said, they must focus their campaign more on social problems and character issues. The change in emphasis had been under serious discussion since late last month, but it was propelled Thursday, when it was reported that the June unemployment rate had surged to 7.8 percent. The shift in strategy portends a tougher and possibly more negative re-election effort by Mr. Bush than he or his advisers had predicted. Short on Confidence and Time Mr. Bush's re-election chairman, Robert M. Teeter, said today that the campaign was making only subtle changes in the campaign's overall strategy, which always included messages about social problems, "family values" and Mr. Bush's standing as a world leader. But the decision not to rely on good economic news for an autumn "kick" nevertheless removes an underpinning from the assumptions that Mr. Bush himself has carried into the race.

Inside a narrow house trailer, where the heat works sometimes and the telephone never does, a fierce Wyoming wind slams against the aluminum walls, rattling the family pictures and everything else that hangs by a hook. Rising from a threadbare sofa, Molly Prosinski cradles 2-year-old April in one arm, wipes a smudge from the face of 5-year-old Aaron and debates the merits of homework with Crystal, 12, all the while checking the macaroni on the stove.

After several years of reduction, Japan's trade surplus with the rest of the world is soaring again to record levels, a development that could increase unemployment in other nations and contribute to a new round of trade tensions. It is also likely to be a main topic at the summit meeting of the seven leading industrial countries next week in Munich, where Japan will be in the awkward position of being the only participant with a surplus.

The people who live here in the hazy valleys cut by the Ohio and Big Sandy Rivers, where the air has been among the most polluted in the country, are benefiting from cleaner air these days, thanks to changes in weather patterns as well as to a law passed two years ago. President Bush saluted that law, the Clean Air Act, and said it would "make the 1990's the era for clean air."

Russia Deficit Daunts I.M.F. The Russian budget deficit is growing at a rapid rate, putting pressure on the International Monetary Fund to accept that reforms will take longer to carry out than expected. Page 5. Sandinista May Face Trial Nicaragua's army chief, considered a stabilizing holdover from Sandinista rule, could face trial on charges of covering up a murder. Page 2. Marc Tanenbaum Dies The rabbi, 66 years old, was a father of modern Jewish-Christian dialogue and one of the best-known Jewish leaders in America. Page 10. Rushing to Fill Jobs New Federal money has spurred a scramble from Connecticut to California to create and fill thousands of jobs for poor youths. Page 21.