If it weren't for all the government layoffs we would of had less then 8% unemployment _months_ ago. It's the government downsizing that has been keeping the unemployment high. The private sector has been adding jobs at a pretty good clip actually, considering the huge hole we were in the start with.
Not to mention, as a backdrop, private corps have been experiencing their highest profits in decades.
Government jobs, across the board, federal, state, and local have been being shed. You do the bloody math.