America’s Hidden Austerity Program

[Dick Tuck]

And the right wing wants to blame Obama for this?

America's Hidden Austerity Program - NYTimes.com

But there is something historically different about this recession and its aftermath: in the past, local government employment has been almost recession-proof. This time it’s not. Going back as long as the data have been collected (1955), with the one exception of the 1981 recession, local government employment continued to grow almost every month regardless of what the economy threw at it. But since the latest recession began, local government employment has fallen by 3 percent, and is still falling. In the equivalent period following the 1990 and 2001 recessions, local government employment grew 7.7 and 5.2 percent. Even following the 1981 recession, by this stage local government employment was up by 1.4 percent.

 

[waltky]

1 step forward, 2 steps back...

Unemployment rates up in 26 states
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Unemployment rates rose in 26 states in August and declined in 12, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday.

In a report that breaks down the nation's employment situation state by state, the department said 12 other states had no change and the District of Columbia posted a decline. In contrast, 28 states had an increase in jobs while 21 and the District of Columbia experienced job losses. The number of jobs in Colorado was unchanged.

Early this month, the department reported the country gained 96,000 jobs in August -- a preliminary number subject to change. In the state-by-state breakdown, Texas added the most jobs in August, 38,000. Florida added 23,000 and Missouri gained 17,900 to round out the top three.

Virginia, on the other hand, posted a loss of 12,400 jobs followed by the District of Columbia, which lost 11,200 and Washington state, which lost 8,800. The highest unemployment rate in the country was Nevada's 12.1 percent. Rhode Island had the second highest rate, 10.7 percent and California the next highest at 10.6 percent.

The department said 21 states had unemployment rates "significantly lower" than the national rate of 8.1 percent. The lowest unemployment rates are 3 percent in North Dakota, 4 percent in Nebraska, 4.5 percent in South Dakota and 5.1 percent in Oklahoma.

Read more: World News - UPI.com