Government employment is at historic lows, largely of draconian budget cuts at the federal, state, and local levels over the course of the recession. The sector has now lost more jobs than any other major industry over the last three years. And our employment picture would have looked drastically different without such austerity.
The economy saw a string of good news this week.
It's fair to say that the U.S. economy has been in a worrisome funk these past few months. But could that turn around? In the past few days, a handful of economic indicators have offered some reasons for cautious optimism.
The U.S. economy is about to reach a dreary milestone. At the end of this week, not a single state in the country will offer extended benefits to unemployed workers. And states aren't cutting back their programs because the economy's improving. Rather, they're doing it because of the odd structure of the law.
The U.S. economy lost 1.2 million jobs between June and July. But that's not how it got reported. When the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its jobs figures for July, it said the economy gained 163,000 jobs. A look at the mysteries of "seasonal adjustments," which may be skewing the jobs reports.
A new study finds that more than 46 percent of Americans die with less than $10,000 in financial assets, with many spending the final years of their life strongly dependent on the government.
It's one thing to get a job—any old job. It's quite another to have a good job that pays well and has decent benefits. And a new report finds that "good jobs" are becoming increasingly rare in the modern U.S. economy. Even for well-educated workers.
The mixed message is the outcome of an economy that's sluggishly recovering in fits and starts, as well as inherent technical shortcomings in how we measure the labor market in the first place.
The U.S. added 163,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate stayed essentially unchanged, going from 8.2 percent to 8.3 percent. The good news here is that the job market isn't getting dramatically worse. But it's not getting dramatically better, either.
The Fed sees a slowing economy but won't act now.
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Blog Contributors
Ezra Klein is the editor of Wonkblog and a columnist at the Washington Post, as well as a contributor to MSNBC and Bloomberg. His work focuses on domestic and economic policymaking, as well as the political system that’s constantly screwing it up. He really likes graphs, and is on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook. E-mail him here.
Suzy Khimm covers the budget, economic policy, and financial regulatory reform. Before coming to Washington, she was based in Brazil and Southeast Asia, where she wrote for the Economist, Slate, and the Wall Street Journal Asia. Follow her on Twitter here, and email her here.
Sarah Kliff covers health policy, focusing on Medicare, Medicaid and the health reform law. She tries to fit in some reproductive health and education policy coverage, too, alongside an occasional hockey reference. Her work has appeared in Newsweek, Politico, and the BBC. She is on Twitter and Facebook.
Brad Plumer is a reporter focusing on energy and environmental issues. He was previously an associate editor at The New Republic. Follow him on Twitter. Email him here.
