Britain targets public workers for austerity — unlike U.S.

“Doing more with less.” That’s the mantra from across the sea, as Britain’s key leaders warn of deeper cuts for public employees by fiscal 2015.

“There is a challenge of doing more with less. … Difficult decisions” will be made on where to cut and whom to fire, said Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman, according to a report in The Telegraph. “The government has made it clear that there will be further squeezes on departmental spending.”

Meanwhile, Chancellor George Osborne is pushing forward with his mandate that all departments provide spending plans that reflect dramatic cuts for the 2015-16 budget year.

“Step up” your austerity, Mr. Osbourne reportedly told Cabinet members.

The blunt austerity talk comes amid tough economic times in European nations, where unemployment rates have reached double-digit levels. Spain and Greece both have surpassed 26 percent in joblessness; unemployment for the entire eurozone has hovered near 12 percent.

The tough talk also comes in contrast to America’s reaction to a lagging economy. Whereas Britain looks to the public sector to make cuts, the United States, headed by President Obama, seeks to create jobs by hiring taxpayer-funded workers.

According to statistics at MyGovCost.org, Mr. Obama grew the federal government’s budget by 16.5 percent during his first term. And in a four-year period beginning 2007, the private-sector workforce shrank by nearly 7 percent and lost 7.5 million jobs, according to Heritage Foundation statistics. Despite that, Mr. Obama’s fiscal 2012 budget called for even more hirings to the government payrolls.

“The president want[ed] to create an additional 15,000 federal government jobs, including 4,182 additional Internal Revenue Service employees, 1,054 of which will be needed to implement Obamacare alone,” the Heritage Foundation reported.

The U.S. unemployment rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is 7.8 percent.