Unemployment
ticked down a little in California in May. Good news? Well, maybe –
depends on where you work.

Since
the beginning of the California recession in July, 2007, the private sector has
lost more than 1.3 million jobs, while the government sector has actually grown
by more than 19,000 jobs. (This latest government growth is a little
misleading, too, since it is due almost entirely to temporary hiring of census
workers.) But the plain fact is that private employment – in every sector
except health care and private education – has experienced a severe
contraction. In government – not so much.

How
many times must it be said: government coffers will not recover until private
job growth rebounds. And California will never see robust job growth unless and
until our investment climate improves.