America Has Hundreds Of Thousands Fewer Teachers Than It Had Three Years Ago

The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this morning that the United States economy added 163,000 jobs in July, a positive if not large enough step in the nations economic recovery. But while the private sector continues to add jobs, federal, state, and local governments continue to shed them. The public sector lost 9,000 more jobs in July, bringing its total cuts to 648,000 over the last three years the worst three-year period on record.

The Hamilton Project examined government data and found that among those public sector cuts, teachers, police officers, and emergency first responders have been hit especially hard. From 2009 to 2011, the country lost 220,000 teaching jobs, and the number of emergency responders dropped by more than 40 percent, as the chart below shows:

The Hamilton... [via Wonk Room]