New York Times (02/27/13) Binyamin Appelbaum
Federal, state, and local governments have smaller work forces than they did just prior to the recession in 2007. Governments now employ 500,000 fewer people, and if the sequestration goes into effect as scheduled on March 1, government employment could shrink further. U.S. growth could also shrink by 1.5 percentage points this year. Tyler Cowen, an economist at George Mason University, says military contractors and personnel may find new jobs fairly easily, because unemployment rates are relatively low for well-educated employees.