New Report on Sequestration’s Effect

In 2013 alone, the nation stands to lose 2.14 million jobs, $215 billion in gross domestic product, and $109.4 billion in the personal earnings of the American workforce if the Budget Control Act’s sequester takes effect in January, according to a new report chartered by the Aerospace Industries Association. For the defense sector, which would absorb some $500 billion of sequestration’s $1.2 trillion in mandated federal budget cuts, this would mean a loss of more than one million jobs, $86.5 billion in GDP, and $59.4 billion in workers’ personal earnings, states the study. “The results are bleak, but clear-cut,” said George Mason University economist Stephen Fuller, who led the research, at the July 17 press conference in Washington, D.C., unveiling the report. He added, “The unemployment rate will climb above 9 percent, pushing the economy toward recession and reducing projected growth in 2013 by two-thirds.” (AIA release) (Fuller report; caution, large-sized file.)