While the new estimates were disappointing, they're hardly anything out of the ordinary for the public sector. Collectively, government employment has remained essentially flat over the past few months, continuing a prolonged period of slow growth. Even as private-sector job gains accelerated last year, most governments have yet to experience steady increases in hiring.
The following charts illustrate the current state of public-sector employment:
Public-sector recovery trails private sector
Total state and local government employment peaked during the early stages of the recession in the summer of 2008, reaching about 19.8 million jobs. The Labor Department's most recent estimates indicate the sector remains about 630,000 jobs below this level. Meanwhile, the private sector has surpassed its peak, although the recovery has been uneven across different parts of the country.27.png
(Note that employment growth would appear weaker if population growth were taken into consideration.)
Slowest growth of any sector
Reviewing data for individual sectors further shows just how far government trails other areas of the economy. Over the past 12 months, states, localities and the federal government added a combined 72,000 jobs, representing an increase of just 0.3 percent. That's the slowest growth of any major industry.42.png
Local government employment remains stagnant
Local governments (including schools) account for nearly two-thirds of public-sector employment. Slow growth for local government payrolls has persisted in recent months, with the Labor Department's latest estimates suggesting employment for March is at the same level as it was in August.38.png
Non-education state government jobs declining
State government job growth has also yet to accelerate. Nearly half of employees in this sector work in education, mostly for colleges and universities. When this segment of the workforce, which has experienced slow growth, is subtracted, the picture becomes much bleaker for the rest of the sector. Non-education state government payrolls have shed an estimated 174,000 jobs since the start of the recession, a decline of about 6.2 percent.36.png
