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- Unemployment Slamming Public Employees
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- Dick Meister
Public employees are suffering particularly from the continued high levels of unemployment. That has been especially hard on the African-American workers who have entered the middle class through public employment.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
Public employees are suffering particularly from the continued high levels of unemployment. That has been especially hard on the African-American workers who have entered the middle class through public employment.
Broadcast History
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Transcript
The latest job reports show that public employees, those favorite targets of Republicans and other government budget slashers, are being especially hit by the country's severe unemployment problems.
As the New York Times reported, 20,000 government workers were laid off in November alone, most of them state, county and city employees.
The public workers' unemployment numbers have been steadily increasing for the past several years, at the same time that the jobless figures for workers in private employment have been decreasing.
In fact, the private sector has been adding jobs since the end of 2009, a year after the beginning of the Great Recession. More than a half-million government jobs have been lost since the recession began in 2008.
The Times noted that in most cases, the layoffs were made because of declining tax revenues, or reduced federal aid "because of Washington's baff...
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Intro and Outro
INTRO:Commentator Dick Meister says public employees have been hit particularly hard by unemployment.
OUTRO:Dick Meister is a long-time labor and political journalist.
