95,000 jobs lost in September as states increase cuts

The weakening U.S. economy lost 95,000 jobs last month, largely because of the layoff of temporary census workers and the largest cut by local governments nationwide in 28 years, according to a federal jobs report released Friday.

The private sector gained a modest 64,000 jobs in September, its ninth straight month of gains. But as has been the case for several months, private-sector momentum was wiped out by government layoffs - 159,000 in September. Those layoffs included the loss of 77,000 temporary census workers and 76,000 local-government employees, especially in education.

Local governments across the country have been shedding jobs for most of this year, but the pace quickened in September and resulted in the highest numbers of layoffs since 1982. Government employment overall on Long Island began shedding jobs in July and August, according to the latest figures from the state released last month.

Maria Navarro, president of CSEA Suffolk Educational Local 870, which represents 6,700 school-district support staff in Suffolk County, estimates that 100 of the local's members lost jobs in the Central Islip and Brentwood school districts as of September. The losses were across categories that included cafeteria workers, teachers' aides, grounds people and custodians.

"The morale is down," she said, "and it had to do with layoffs, it has to do with health insurance; it has to do with cutting back of hours, especially for our part-timers." She said she is hopeful that additional federal aid to schools will allow them to rehire some of her members.

One reason for the spike is that some teachers in some parts of the country who were notified of their layoffs when school ended in spring did not fall off the payrolls until last month. More layoffs are expected from state and local governments - despite a $26-billion aid package that President Barack Obama signed into law in August - because the recession devastated state and local budgets.

The continuing weakness of the job market was evident on many fronts in the report. September's 9.6 percent unemployment rate was unchanged from August and has remained stuck in virtually the same range since the beginning of the year. The number of workers forced to work part time because they couldn't find full-time work rose to 9.5 million in September, up 612,000 from the month before.

"The private sector is still being very cautious and probably shares the broader concern, that the recovery is still weak," said economics professor Gregory DeFreitas, who heads Hofstra University's labor studies program. "The private-sector hiring is way too feeble. We need like 240,000-plus new jobs [a month] to cover new folks . . . coming into the job market."

He believes that the answer to reviving the job market is another stimulus program. "We need the stimulus to create enough momentum so that the private sector finally steps up to the plate and finally starts making good full-time jobs again."

Employment services added the most jobs - 28,000 - most from temporary staffing companies. The health-care sector was next, with 24,000.

Among segments also shedding jobs, manufacturing lost 6,000. That sector also reflected renewed weakness in the labor market because for months it had been expanding and leading the United States out of a recession. In the first five months of the year it averaged gains of 27,000 jobs a month.

With AP