In my City Talk column today, I talk about cuts to education in Georgia over the last few years.
I just want to follow up here with a post about total government employment in Georgia using Georgia Department of Labor jobs data from November 2007, November 2010, and November 2011.
Government employment (federal, state, and local):
653,300 in Nov. 2011, down 22,500 from 675,800 in November 2010
Here’s the breakdown of those 653,300 government jobs comparing Nov. 2011 with Nov. 2010:
Federal Government:
102,100 jobs in Nov. 2011, down 100 from 102,200 in Nov. 2010
(largest sector: Department of Defense 43,700, up 800 from 42,900 in Nov. 2010)
State Government:
149,300 jobs in Nov. 2011, down 10,500 from 159,800 in Nov. 2010
(largest sector: State Government Educational Services 74,500 in Nov. 2011, down 7,100 from 81,600 in Nov. 2010)
Local Government:
401,900 jobs in Nov. 2011, down 11,900 from Nov. 2010
(largest sector: Local Government Educational Services 248,700 in Nov. 2011, down 5,800 from 254,500 in Nov. 2010)
Total government employment in 2011 compared to 2007:
Total federal, state, and local:
Nov. 2007: 685,700
Nov. 2011: 653,300
-32,400
Federal:
Nov. 2007: 95,000 (Dept. of Defense: 36,100)
Nov. 2011: 102,100 (Dept. of Defense: 43,700)
+7,100 (Dept. of Defense: +7,600)
State:
Nov. 2007: 162,700 (Education: 76,400)
Nov. 2011: 149,300 (Education: 74,500)
-13,400 (Education: -1,900)
Local:
Nov. 2007: 428,000 (Education: 268,300)
Nov. 2011: 401,900 (Education: 248,700)
-26,100 (Education: -19,600)
So from Nov. 2007 to Nov. 2011, total government employment decreased 4.7%, but the cuts were heavily concentrated in local and state educational services.
Total federal employment increased 7.6%, buoyed by a 21.1% increase in Dept. of Defense employment.
Total state government employment fell 8.2%, with a 2.7% decline in educational services.
Total local government employment fell 6.1% with a 7.3% decline in educational services.
So we’re down 32,400 government jobs in Georgia over the last four years. 21,500 of those job losses have come in educational services at the state or local level.
These cuts have come even as the population has increased by about 5% over the last four years.
This is what smaller government looks like in Georgia.