Government Job Cuts Come to a Halt

Some good news on the government employment front today, courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly report on the overall workforce. The number of people employed at all levels of government -- local, state and federal -- "was essentially unchanged in January and February," BLS reported. That may not sound like much of an accomplishment, but in 2011, government lost an average of 22,000 jobs per month. The bulk of those losses were at the state and local levels, as ongoing budget problems forced cutbacks.