Posted by
The CL Project on Wednesday, January 28, 2009 12:31:56 PM
The Year of the Ox, year 4706 in the Chinese lunar calendar, is supposed to represent prosperity through perseverance and hard work. But the hope for a better year in 2009 was being dashed by the job losses and the growing concern that many more would join the ranks of the 2.6 million who became unemployed in 2008, the most annual job losses since 1945.
A slew of American heavyweight companies, including Caterpillar, Pfizer, Sprint Nextel, Home Depot and General Motors, announced cuts Monday adding up to 45,000 jobs lost. What's more, a group of business economists predicted many more job losses in the year ahead.
The Labor Department report for November 2008 states that the goods-producing sector shed 126,000 jobs in its 23rd consecutive monthly decline. The manufacturing sector marked its 26th straight monthy decline, losing 85,000 jobs. The services sector lost 31,000 jobs. Small businesses employing fewer than 50 workers were hard hit, losing 25,000 jobs.
But here comes your twist of irony for the day....
As the private sector slashes jobs to remain competitive in a difficult economy, the government is growing by leaps and bounds. The Labor Department reported that the government added 23,000 jobs in the month of November.
This as a new probe reports that your taxpayer dollars are funding government workers who are using their computers to log onto "sexually explicit" Web sites. In one instance, the report cites an National Science Foundation (NSF) "senior official" who allegedly spent 20 percent of his work hours "viewing sexually explicit" Web sites -- amounting to a potential loss of $58,000 in employee compensation.
Oh and by the way, the NSF is currently requesting an additional $3 billion in the stimulus bill.