State and Local Government Budget Cuts Led to Massive Layoffs
By refusing to extend sufficient aid to state and local governments, Republicans all but ensured that there would be massive layoffs at the state and local level. And indeed there have been, with over 600,000 public sectors working losing their jobs since the president came into office, including another 13,000 just this month.
As the above chart shows, all of theprivate sector jobs lost since President Obama came into office have now been replaced. The president has now created 4.3 million private sector jobs — and at a much faster pace than did President Bush. Under President Bush, however, the public sector expanded at a robust rate, while under President Obama it has contracted considerably.
As President Obama said this afternoon in Minnesota, "layoffs at the state and local level have been a chronic problem in our recovery."