By now, you likely have heard about the White House’s latest foray into comedic propaganda – their laughable claim that the federal stimulus has “saved or created” between 2.5 million and 3.6 million jobs.
I noted previously how these outrageous jobs claims are not based on any real-world developments, but rather on crude mathematical models that assume federal government deficit spending stimulates economic activity. In other words, even if there were only 3.6 million Americans left with a job today, the White House’s models would claim those jobs were “saved” by the stimulus bill.
Getting back to reality, what do the jobs numbers here in NC look like since the passage of the stimulus bill? According to Employment Security Commission data, in Feb. of 2009 when the stimulus bill was signed into law, North Carolina had a total of 3.98 million workers. By May of 2010 (the latest data available), NC’s workforce had dropped to 3.92 million – a loss of 66,000 jobs. Moreover, the private sector lost more than 108,000 jobs during that time – a contraction of more than 3%.
Unsurprisingly, the number of government workers in North Carolina during this time grew by 42,300 – an increase of 6% in just 15 months.
Is there any doubt left that the “stimulus” had nothing to do with economic recovery and everything to do with amassing even more government power?
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