Well, at least there is some good news for government workers today.
New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the state's massive public pension fund gained almost 26 percent on its investments during the latest fiscal year, erasing the previous year's losses to Wall Street's meltdown and the recession.
The fund's public equity investments gained 52 percent for the year that ended March 31. That compares to a 45 percent gain in the S&P 500 and 55 percent in the NASDAQ index over the same time.
Its private equity investments gained just less than 12 percent while the real estate portfolio was down almost 28 percent.
The fund paid out $7.6 billion in benefits during the year and was worth almost $133 billion, up from about $110 billion at the end of the previous year, when investments lost 26 percent of their value.
DiNapoli, the sole trustee of the fund, released the numbers Tuesday.
Meanwhile today, Gov. David Paterson announced he's putting together a plan that would lay off thousands of state workers at the beginning of 2011 to help balance the budget.
