State government employment drops below level at start of recession

Total employment by state governments has dipped below its level at the start of the recent recession for the first time, a new “Data Alert” from the Rockefeller Institute of Government shows. After rising for eight consecutive months after the recession began in December 2007, state and local government employment has declined for 17 of the last 23 months as states have experienced record declines in revenue. An extension of extraordinary federal aid to states, expected to be approved by Congress, “would likely dampen but not eliminate pressure for additional cuts in state and local government employment,” Institute researchers Donald J. Boyd and Lucy Dadayan write.
Click here for the Data Alert.