NUMBER OF FURLOUGH DAYS FOR FEDERAL WORKERS MAY BE SHORTENED

Defense department civilians will likely face up to five fewer unpaid furlough days than originally planned. Pentagon leaders are scrimping to find up to $900 million in savings in the final months of the budget year that ends September 30. While no final decisions have been made, it’s believed civilian workers will be forced to take six to eight unpaid days off rather than the 11 days that had been scheduled. Defense officials said yesterday that they do not expect an announcement this week because the numbers have not yet been finalized. Civilian defense workers are in the fourth week of furloughs. About 650,000 department civilians have been taking one furlough day each week since early July. The furloughs were expected to save roughly $2 billion.