The FINANCIAL — Most Americans favor some kind of government action to help the unemployed, but now nearly half oppose the idea of the government simply hiring more workers.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of American Adults shows that 31% think increased government hiring would be good for the economy. However, 47% say it would be bad for the economy if the government hires more, while 14% say it would have no impact.
Americans were more evenly divided in October, when 35% thought the government hiring more workers would be good for the economy and 39% said it would be bad.
Thirty-two percent (32%) of adults now believe the government should do nothing if people can’t find work for an extended period of time. Sixteen percent (16%) say the government should extend their unemployment benefits indefinitely, while 28% think the government should pay for their retraining. Another 16% say the government should hire the long-term unemployed. These findings are little changed from October.
In February of last year, 44% adults said the government should not hire unemployed Americans. Roughly the same number of (43%) felt that way in December 2009.
Nearly half of Democrats (49%) think it would be good for the economy if the government hired more workers, but most Republicans (64%) and a plurality of adults not affiliated with either major political party (46%) think it would be a bad move economically.
Sixty-one percent (61%) of private sector workers feel increased government hiring would be bad for the economy, a view shared by only 37% of government workers.
Just before Congress passed a measure in December that extended funding for unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks, 49% of adults said this action would increase the number of people who remain unemployed.
Thirty-two percent (32%) of Americans now expect unemployment to be higher a year from now, up 10 points from a month ago but comparable to findings a year ago. Twenty-seven percent (27%) think the unemployment rate will be down in a year's time.
Most Americans still believe government workers have more job security than those in the private sector.
In November, two-thirds (66%) of Likely Voters nationwide favored a proposal to cut the federal payroll by 10% over the coming decade. In a January poll, voters were evenly divided over the idea of a 10% across-the-board pay cut for all state employees to help reduce overall spending.
Earlier this week, 36% of voters said that in their state the average public employee earns more than the average private sector worker.
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