Almost one in three people employed in Washington DC, Alaska, and Hawaii work for local, state, or federal government. These people may want to be concerned. Austerity measures are likely to thin their ranks. The last six national monthly unemployment reports show attrition in the public sector.
Nearly 3 out of every 10 workers in Hawaii (29.7%), Alaska (29.6%), and the District of Columbia (29.1%) work for federal, state, or local government, at a time when government employment is declining nationally at all levels. Pennsylvania has the lowest percentage of government workers, at 11.8%.
States with economies based on old-line manufacturing including Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio also have low public sector populations compared to overall work forces. Many of the public employees in these states have already been laid off as tax bases from manufacturers and their workers, now out of work, have dropped.
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