80,000, a good st

Of course, some of us don't think this is quite the tragedy the AP assumes it to be:

State governments across the country have cut more than 80,000 jobs since the beginning of the recession, reflecting steep drops in tax revenue and providing a drag on the economies in many parts of the country, the Associated Press has found.

Data collected by AP reporters in all 50 states show the number of government employees has declined along with per-capita general fund spending. The national average of state employees per 1,000 people has dropped from 8.1 to 7.6, thanks to layoffs and hiring freezes since the 2007-08 budget year.

There's been a per-capita drop of state workers per 1,000 people of a whole .5? Whoa, Nelly! It's nice to think the politicians might use this opportunity to rethink the role of government in our lives to the point where they realize we can and should do with a lot fewer state employees. But I guess we all know that this is a temporary situation that will start changing when the economy improves.