MISSOURI WATCH: IT'S ABOUT THE PAYROLL, STUPID!

It was one of those news releases from Jefferson City that hits press desks every day, and this one had such a familiar appearance that it barely made an impression. But, then, the mundane release caused the mind to do a second take. It read: "February employment up, unemployment down."

The news that 12,500 more Missourians were employed in February than January was the kind of information that brightens the day of any good citizen. Reading further into the state's Department of Labor news release, it seems that one of the largest factors in the 0.1 percentage jobless decrease was "Local, state and federal governments."

New jobs created and filled by Missouri's local governments in the 30-day period totaled 7,400, while new jobs created by Missouri's state government in the same period of time reached 5,200. Uncle Sam did his part, as well, creating and filling 3,500 new jobs from January through February.

Wait a minute! One doesn't have to be an economist to recognize that if you add all the jobs created by local, state and federal governments, the number exceeds all the new job slots that were filled. As a matter of fact, the three layers of government created 3,600 more jobs than private industry ended.

New public payroll jobs more than offset the loss of 1,500 positions at general merchandise stores and 900 slots in apparel and accessory stores, while 800 jobs were eliminated in food stores, 400 in aircraft and parts manufacturing and 300 in furniture and home furnishing stores. All but one of these classifications are in the retail sector, which might be of interest to economists who at this moment are trying to figure out whether the nation is headed for a business slowdown. Hint: When more than 3,500 jobs are lost in four retail categories in just 30 days, some consumer resistance seems at least remotely possible.

It's difficult to learn just why local governments, a category that includes municipalities, townships and counties, should have to employ 7,400 new workers, but part of the increase can probably be traced to public schools and to new capital projects. As for 5,200 new-job hires in state government, an answer is all but elusive, except to note that despite an occasional but highly limited burst of interest, Jefferson City's new hires have been increasing for at least two decades, with little indication of a slow-down any time in the foreseeable future. New jobs being created by a federal government that has repeatedly been forced to shut down because of a budget crisis seems the most implausible of all. There was no mention of such an eventuality in Newt Gingrich's contract with America, which along with the Clinton-Gore claims of multi thousand reductions in Washington's payroll, seems to have a different definition of job reduction.

The truth is that while millions of Americans are sending in their annual federal and state tax returns, the nation's public agencies are creating more and more jobs that more and more tax dollars. It might even be suggested that instead of Missourians voting on tax increase limitations, we'd all be better off if we could pass a constitutional amendment that would limit the number of public jobs that can only be funded by the taxpayers. If we were able to limit the ability of local, state and federal governments to create 16,100 new jobs in just 30 days, we'd all be better off.

In a large number of departments in state government, the highest expense item is "personal services," a category that includes full-time equivalent personnel. The state agency with the largest payroll, the Department of Mental Health, spends a large portion of its $580 million appropriation on personnel, as do the departments of Revenue, Insurance, Health, Natural Resources, Public Safety, Agriculture and Economic Development. Seldom does an agency request fewer workers for a new fiscal year, even if its responsibilities have been reduced or transferred to another agency. Some agency directors would rather give up their spouses than an employee; some even have.

In the current budget year, taxpayers have coughed up an additional $102.7 million for existing employees for salary increases, salary-grade hikes and retirement benefits. When new employees are added, the cost will escalate as tenured workers receive increases and health and pension costs expand. The silence on these multi million-dollar costs has been deafening, but taxpayers have a right to better explanations than they have received to date.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of the Missouri News and Editorial Service.