Pension fund assets down sharply for some

The pension funds of U.S. state and local government employees dropped 22.7 percent from 2008 to 2009, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. The dramatic drop of $726.1 billion came after a drop of $176.7 billion from 2008 to 2009, a survey of state and local government retirement systems found. The Census Bureau said the pension funds covered in the report lost $633.4 billion on investments, nearly $600 billion more then the previous year. Employee and government contributions to pension funds increased 7 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively. In 2009, employees ponied up $39.5 billion. Governments added in $86.12 billion. Contributions by local governments rose 10 percent, while state government contributions fell 2.6 percent in the year.