Companies in the U.S. have been slowly adding workers
for more than two years. But pink slips are still going out in a
crucial area: government.
In California, the governor is threatening to eliminate 15,000
state jobs. When school begins in Cleveland this autumn, more than
500 teachers probably will be out of work. And in Trenton, New
Jersey -- which has already cut a third of its police force,
hundreds of school district employees and at least 150 other public
workers -- only a possible federal grant can forestall the loss of
60 firefighters.
Government payrolls grew in the early part of the recovery,
largely because of government stimulus measures. But since its
postrecession peak in April 2009 (not counting temporary Census
Bureau hiring), the public sector has shrunk by 657,000 jobs. The
losses appeared to be tapering off this year but have accelerated
for the past three months, creating the single biggest drag on the
recovery in many areas.
With the economy expanding, albeit slowly, state tax revenues
have started to recover and are estimated to exceed prerecession
levels next year. Yet governors and legislatures are keeping a tight
rein on spending, whether to refill depleted rainy-day funds or
because of political inclination.
At the same time, costs for health care, social services,
pensions and education are still rising. Fourteen states plan to
resolve their budget gaps by reducing aid to local governments,
according to a report by the National Governors Association and the
National Association of State Budget Officers.
So although the national government has grown a little since the
recession, and many states have recently begun to add a few jobs,
local governments are making new cuts that outweigh those gains.
More than a quarter of municipal governments are planning layoffs
this year, according to a survey by the Center for State and Local
Government Excellence. They are being squeezed not only by declining
federal and state support, but by their devastated property tax
base.
"The unfortunate reality is, our revenue streams have not
rebounded," said Timothy R. Hacker, the city manager of North Las
Vegas, Nevada, which has cut its work force to 1,300 from 2,300 and
is about to lay off 130 more. "Shaking this recession is becoming
increasingly difficult."
Pennsylvania, for example, has shed 5,400 government jobs this
year, and many school districts and social service agencies are
contemplating more layoffs. "We have slipped to the middle of the
pack in terms of job growth," said Mark Price, a labor economist at
the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. "And that was driven
mainly by the fact that we lost so many jobs in the public sector."
Public workers became a point of contention in the presidential
campaign recently when Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican
nominee, criticized President Barack Obama for wanting to increase
the number of government employees through stimulus measures. "He
says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers," Mr.
Romney said, adding: "It's time for us to cut back on government and
help the American people."
Mr. Obama has made the counterargument that during past
recessions the government sector has grown, rather than shrunk. The
White House later said he meant recessions and the recoveries that
followed.
