The loss of public-sector jobs is one of the stories behind continuing high unemployment. Private-sector growth hasn't been enough to make up for the loss of government jobs, and it's dragging the economy down. But it's not just the loss of jobs, Monique Morrissey explains. It's also the
falling wages:
hile the decline in real public-sector wages started later, it was steeper and ultimately more damaging. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Cost Index, public-sector wages have fallen by about 1.3 percent in inflation-adjusted terms since 2007, where private-sector wages have been essentially flat (an increase of 0.3 percent).
Unlike in previous recoveries, state and local government austerity has been a major drag on job growth and the broader economy. The number of public-sector jobs fell by almost 3 percent in the three years following the recession, while the number of private-sector jobs grew (albeit anemically). The fact that public-sector wages have lagged behind those in the private-sector exacerbates government’s drag on the economy.
But Republicans continue pushing for more layoffs and pay freezes and general vilification of public workers.
Continue reading below the fold for more of the week's labor and education news.
A fair day's wage
Education
- Newark teachers battle governor's school privatization agenda.
- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's schools chancellor, Carmen Farina, is already making significant changes:
The chancellor, Carmen Fariña, in describing the Education Department’s $12.8 billion capital plan, said she would seek to redirect $210 million that had been reserved for classroom space for charter schools and other nonprofit groups. The money, spread out over five years, would instead be used to create thousands of new prekindergarten seats, helping fulfill Mr. de Blasio’s signature campaign promise.
Not just pre-K, either:
“We have a lot of priorities in education. One of the things I've talked about a lot over the last year is the over-crowded areas of the city. Central Queens, Lower Manhattan, obviously north shore of Staten Island,” [de Blasio] said. “We have a number of areas that are really problematic in terms of schools, overcrowded schools, we even have wait lists in some areas.”
- New York, by the way, isn't the only place pre-school is gaining momentum.