Fri, 08 May 2009 16:19:39 +0000 – By Phil KerpenPolicy Director, Americans for Prosperity
Today’s jobs report shows that the Obama/Pelosi/Reid stimulus seems to be stimulating exactly what its OPPONENTS said it would: bigger government. Private payrolls slashed 611,000 jobs in April, the smallest number since 601,000 private jobs were lost in November, but it’s hard to see this as turning the corner when you consider that, outside of the past four months, that’s the largest monthly job loss we’ve seen since December 1974.
The headline number of 539,000 jobs lost–still a shockingly large number in historical perspective–is misleading because of the enormous number of new government jobs created in April. State and local government added 6,000 workers, while the federal government added an astonishing 66,000 workers to the taxpayer-funded payrolls in April.
Unemployment also jumped in April to 8.9 percent, the highest rate since 1983. We have a rapidly shrinking number of private sector workers who will be forced to pick up the tab for a relentlessly expanding federal government. This will not end well. No wonder hardworking American taxpayers have been taking to the streets to protest.
Leave a Reply