Reid: 'Private Sector Jobs Have Been Doing Just Fine,' Government Jobs Should Take Priority

By Pete Kasperowicz, The Hill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday said Congress needs to worry about government jobs more than private-sector jobs, and that this is why Senate Democrats are pushing a bill aimed at shoring up teachers and first-responders.

"It's very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine; it's the public-sector jobs where we've lost huge numbers, and that's what this legislation is all about," Reid said on the Senate floor.

Reid was responding to recent comments from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who accused Democrats of purposefully pursuing higher taxes as part of the teacher/first-responder bill, S. 1723, so that Republicans would oppose it. McConnell said the bill was meant to fail in order to give Democrats an issue to run on in the 2012 election, but Reid said the Republicans are simply trying to defeat President Obama any way they can.

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According to an analysis by the Republican staff of the Senate Finance Committee using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, since the beginning of the recent recession (Dec. 2007), there have been 6,257,000 private sector job losses (a 5.41% decline) and 392,000 total government (federal + state + local) job losses (a 1.75% decline).

Federal government employment has increased over that period by 63,000 jobs (a 2.29% increase).

State government employment has fallen by 50,000 jobs (a 0.97% decline)—state government educational services jobs are up 71,000 (a 3.06% rise); state government employment excluding educational services jobs is down 121,000 (a 4.30% decline).

Local government employment has fallen by 405,000 jobs (a 2.80% decline)—local government educational services jobs are down 219,000 (a 2.72% decline); local government employment excluding educational services jobs is down 186,000 (a 2.90% decline).