Jobs/Economy
All fast facts for Jobs & Economy are from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). They do not represent all of their reports on this subject. Some simply provide historical perspective. Occasionally minor word adjustments may have been made for clarity or to reflect the updated nature of the statement. As always, verify and view statements in their full context as often as possible.
| Among people whose education culminated in a bachelor’s degree, the cost of total compensation averaged 15 percent more for federal workers than for similar workers in the private sector. Among people with a high school diploma or less education, total compensation costs averaged 36 percent more for federal employees. By contrast, among people with a professional degree or doctorate, total compensation costs were 18 percent lower for federal employees than for similar private-sector employees, on average. Click here to verify at Page ix | |
| Taking action sooner rather than later to address long-term budgetary pressures can make a significant difference. In particular, policies that encourage economic growth — such as running budget surpluses to boost national saving and investment, enacting tax and regulatory policies that encourage work and saving, and focusing more government spending on investment rather than on current consumption—can help by increasing the total amount of resources available for all uses. Click here to verify at Page 6 | |
| A shift away from temporary layoffs and toward permanent layoffs has contributed to the increased duration of unemployment in recent decades. Temporary layoffs, from which a person can reasonably expect to be called back to work, were more common in the recessions of the 1970s and 1980s – when union membership and manufacturing jobs were more prevalent – than in the recessions of the 1990s ad 2000s. Click here to verify at Page 2 | |
| (1994) CBO expects that the high levels of business investment and purchases of durable goods that spurred the economy to a 3.7 percent real rate of growth in 1994 will continue into the first part of 1995. Click here to verify at Page 3 | |
| The economy continued to surprise observers with an impressive performance in 1997. Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at the highest rate since 1988, unemployment fell to a 24-year low, and inflation dropped to levels last seen in the 1960s. Such a performance cannot be sustained indefinitely. Click here to verify at Page xvi |
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