How’s Maine Private Sector Doing?
Its been awhile since I checked on the disparate growth between Maine’s private and public sectors. The chart below shows the difference in growth between the two sectors from November 2000 to November 2010. Over that time-period, Maine’s private sector has declined by 3 percent or 15,400 jobs–still the “lost decade” for private sector job growth. On the other hand, Maine’s public sector (state and local government) grew by 0.5 percent or 400 jobs. Both are now moving sideways, so don’t expect private sector employment to break into positive territory anytime soon.
Mark Wood
Posted on Feb 14, 2011
The Maine Heritage Policy Center's statistics about public and private salaries needs more apples to apples comparisons. Does a state civil engineer, for example, earn more than a civil engineer with Cianbro, H.E. Sargent or KBR, assuming education and licensing are identical? I am willing to bet the private sector pays more. In fact, take any college-educated and professionally trained and licensed person with 10 or more years experience in law, medicine, engineer, computer programming and accounting and compare the private sector with state salaries. Again, I bet the private sector wins every time. Moreover, if you remove minimum wage earners and those with no employer paid health insurance and no 401K matching contributions from your sample, I bet we will find the private sector wins again and again. Give us the real facts, not the manipulated ones. Finally, state employees with years of service have already paid their contractual contribution to the retirement system. It is the State that failed to do its contractual part all the while employees were paying theirs. Why should they be asked to pay more now?
Michele
Posted on Feb 25, 2011
Well said Mr. Wood. They just want everyone to think that state workers are useless and deadbeats. When unfortunately the blame rests on our gov't. System over the last 20 years. I bet any state worker would have been more than happy to have taken the money they paid in. Tucked that away in a 401k or TSA and not have trusted the state to make sure that it was putting the money back that was borrowed from it. Wonder what someone would do if they made a loan to someone and it was not paid back??