Sequestration Budget Cuts Data: Which MA Counties Have the Most Federal Employees?
Essex County has around 2,500 federal employees, most of whom work for the Treasury Dept.
The numbers here show the federal employees in Massachusetts by county in 2012, according to the latest figures from Eye on Washington, a DC-based lobbying firm that tracks federal employment. It compiles the data from the Office of Personnel Management, Federal Employment Statistics and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While much has been made written on how the current sequestration debate in Washington could affect the national economy, these numbers are meant to give readers a sense of the sequestration at the local level.
No one knows for certain what the sequestration cuts, some $85 billion, will mean exactly. Even if the March 1 federal cuts are enacted, the full effects would not be felt immediately. The government is required to alert impacted agencies of what cuts are to be made and what workers are to be furloughed.
It should be noted, however, that even the suggestion of cuts and the notification process itself could be felt in some community economies.
Uncertainty for federal workers means they are likely to tighten their belts until they see what the cuts look like – and how long they last. It means those workers will likely spend less money at local shops and restaurants.
In some communities there may be only a handful of federal workers and the impacts may be small. But, as these figures show, in other counties federal employees numbers in the thousands and in those places the sequestration could become a more significant pain, particularly if it drags on for weeks or months.
(U.S. Postal Service Employees are excluded in this count. The USPS receives no tax dollars in its operations and would not be affected by the sequestration cuts.)
Nameless Conservative
2:54 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013
"It means those workers will likely spend less money at local shops and restaurants."
You're joking right? If all the ones making over $100k got a 5% pay cut do you think that will stop them from shopping and eating out?
A good example of what ACTUALLY cuts into disposal income is fuel cost. Consider just gasoline. We burn 2.55 BILLION gallons of gasoline per year in MA. Using a current price of $3.60/gallon that comes out to $9.2 BILLION that Mass residents currently spend on fueling their cars per year.
When Obama took office in 2009 gasoline was about HALF the price it is now. So today the people of Massachusetts have $4.6 BILLION LESS disposable income to spend locally at stores and restaurants.
The relative difference between the 'plight' of a relatively few federal workers in MA getting a minor 'cut' in pay compared to $4.6 BILLION more extracted from the state through a gas pump credit card reader in one year – is like spitting in the ocean.
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_sum_mkt_dcu_SMA_a.htm
Nameless Conservative
3:19 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013
Hilarious in case anyone missed it, Maxine Waters declares that 170 million people will lose their jobs because of sequester! "We don’t need to be having something like sequestration that’s going to cause these jobs losses, over 170 million jobs that could be lost..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8-d95SO_3g
Maxine, you're home planet called and said they need you to return for a software service pack update.
Sydney
3:19 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013
Well ... come on, we all know the world will end ... the Obama Admin has told us so ... like secretary of ed saying 'non-renewal" notices of contract already went out ... which was on balance utterly false.
As one of those who actually pays .. and pays and pays, I'm all for this cut. Less Government, less unintended consequence ... and thus, for the cust we can hope for, a better economy and government
marc bowlen
4:28 pm on Friday, March 1, 2013
Looks to me when you have 3rd world corrupt elected officials you have a 3rd world country in which the government controls every industry! Great job electing Obama and Deval! Now America can look like those countries where people are starving to death! I say shut the government down!