Scarcity of jobs in the US

It was reported this week that the unemployment rate in the US has reached 9.1% now. Only 54,000 jobs were created in May, one-quarter of what was reported in April, causing the stock market to take a dive.

What bothers me is that in the midst of its economic turmoil, local governments (in the U.S., that is) cut 28,000 jobs in May. In my opinion, this is not a good thing to do. The government is behaving like a profit-and-loss business corporation. It has forgotten its role as an overseer of the people's welfare. It was in a hurry before to rescue the banks and the stock market, which makes me wonder whether that is because the people in power are simply protecting their own interests in the banks and in the stock market. Why are they treating the country like they are running a private business, rather than taking care of the people's welfare? Or perhaps they are running their own private business out of the White House.

I believe that in bad times the government should be increasing the number of jobs in the civil service, while in good times it should do the opposite so as to free up skilled workers to go into the private sector. This it should do, even if it means cutting the salary of existing staff. Every abled-bodied young man and woman is entitled to a proper job. Anything short of that, the government has failed in its duty of care.