What Effect Is The Shrinking Public Sector Having On The Washington State Economy?

Nationally the private sector added 5 million jobs since a low point in June of 2009. But during that same time period the public sector cut 721,000 jobs. What effect is the shrinking public sector having on the economy? And what’s the story here in Washington state?

Paul Guppy is vice president for research at the Washington Policy Center, a Seattle think tank that promotes free-market policies. Marilyn Watkins is policy director at the liberal Economic Opportunities Institute, based in Seattle. Ross Reynolds talks to them about the state of our economy.