The Orange County Register, Calif., Jonathan Lansner Column.

By Jonathan Lansner, The Orange County Register, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

May 18--PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS HURTING, TOO: Economic reality may be catching up with the government worker in this town.

For the first time in seven years, the number of employees toiling for federal, state and local governments in Orange County is on the decline.

Last month, the governmental work force around these parts fell by 0.6 percent, compared with April 2002. In March, the government payroll was 0.8 percent below year-ago levels.

This is the first back-to-back drop for governmental jobs since December 1995-January 1996. That was a period …