Mass. feels pinch on federal workers - Megan Woolhouse, Boston Globe

The automatic budget cuts known as sequestration are forcing thousands of federal workers in Massachusetts to take unpaid furloughs, curtailing services, cutting incomes, and stifling economic growth and job creation in the state, analysts say. Employees are losing as much as 30 percent of their salaries to comply with a law aimed at reducing the federal deficit. They include engineers and civilian employees at the Army’s Natick laboratories, scores of Internal Revenue Service workers, and thousands of civilian employees at Hanscom Air Force Base, many of whom work on national security programs. The furloughs are shrinking paychecks at a time when the lackluster economy needs consumers to spend. Job growth in Massachusetts has slowed significantly in recent months, and the state unemployment rate jumped to 7 percent in June, the highest since the end of 2011. http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/07/21/federal-budget-cuts-take-toll-workers-economy/zhcsYqm7mqgv8pJ89CYX5M/story.html