In June, the private sector added 84,000 and government cut 4,000 jobs. The good news is that with government revenues stabilizing, there are signs that the massive losses in public employment may be coming to an end. Still, since May 2010, the government sector has cut 1.04 million jobs.
At the same time, since February 2010, the private sector has added 4.35 million jobs. The thing is that most of these government job cuts occurred in the Red states, and they are same states that aren’t producing private sector jobs either. Blue states are even adding government jobs as their economies start to recover.
Another part of the problem with slow job creation is the lack of skilled workers, but businesses refuse to provide job training, or pay high enough wages to allow workers to go to school. Raise taxes to support education? Of course not.
Spain is in the news again as their bond rates are above 7% and rising. This sets the stage for a Euro meltdown with unemployment above 25% in Spain and rising. American rightwingers spout their righteous rhetoric about lazy socialist Europeans. Never mind that Spain was running consistent budget surpluses before the Wall Street bank crash. They also prescribe austerity and lower wages for these countries, like we have in the Red States here.