Stock photo
Stock photo
The size of Illinois’ combined local and state government workforces declined 6.9% from July 2019 to July 2021, representing the fifth largest gap in public-employee job recovery during the pandemic, a Pew Charitable Trusts study concluded.
The Pew analysis found that the return of the public-employee jobs after the COVID-19-induced recession last year has been lagging, despite the private sector’s more successful efforts to regain job losses.
Illinois’ 6.9% decline was greater than all states with the exception of New Mexico, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Louisiana, according to the Pew report. Nationwide, noneducation state and local government jobs were down by 400,000 since the pandemic began, U.S. Labor Department estimates for August revealed.
Local government jobs, excluding educators, were the hardest hit, with those public-sector payrolls down 5.3% from before the COVID-19 emergency, according to the Pew study.
The reasons behind the slower recovery of local and state government jobs included previous reductions of local government services to prevent the spread of the virus, as well as hiring freezes and budget pressures in some jurisdictions, researchers said.
The only states reporting more local and state government employment as of July compared to the same time in 2019 were Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas and West Virginia, the study found. Government jobs data was not available for Missouri.
---
Changes in Public-Sector Workforce Numbers by State
| Rank | State | Change in State, Local Government Jobs, July 2019 vs. July 2021 |
| 1 | New Mexico | -8.5% |
| 2 (tie) | Connecticut | -7.6% |
| 2 (tie) | New Hampshire | -7.6% |
| 4 | Louisiana | -7.5% |
| 5 | Illinois | -6.9% |
| 6 (tie) | Hawaii | -6.2% |
| 6 (tie) | Pennsylvania | -6.2% |
| 8 | New Jersey | -6.0% |
| 9 | Vermont | -5.9% |
| 10 | Massachusetts | -5.8% |
| 11 | Virginia | -5.5% |
| 12 | Nevada | -5.2% |
| 13 (tie) | Kansas | -5.1% |
| 13 (tie) | New York | -5.1% |
| 15 | Wisconsin | -4.9% |
| 16 | Michigan | -4.7% |
| 17 | Kentucky | -4.6% |
| 18 | Maine | -4.5% |
| 19 | Georgia | -4.4% |
| 20 | Mississippi | -4.3% |
| 21 (tie) | North Dakota | -3.8% |
| 21 (tie) | Washington | -3.8% |
| 23 | Arizona | -3.7% |
| 24 (tie) | Arkansas | -3.6% |
| 24 (tie) | Ohio | -3.6% |
| 24 (tie) | Oklahoma | -3.6% |
| 27 | Wyoming | -3.3% |
| 28 | California | -3.0% |
| 29 | Minnesota | -2.8% |
| 30 | Maryland | -2.6% |
| 31 (tie) | Nebraska | -2.4% |
| 31 (tie) | Tennessee | -2.4% |
| 33 (tie) | Alabama | -1.8% |
| 33 (tie) | Alaska | -1.8% |
| 33 (tie) | Indiana | -1.8% |
| 33 (tie) | Iowa | -1.8% |
| 37 | Oregon | -1.7% |
| 38 | Delaware | -1.5% |
| 39 | Montana | -1.4% |
| 40 | Utah | -1.1% |
| 41 (tie) | Colorado | -0.8% |
| 41 (tie) | Florida | -0.8% |
| 43 (tie) | Idaho | -0.7% |
| 43 (tie) | North Carolina | -0.7% |
| 43 (tie) | South Carolina | -0.7% |
| 46 | West Virginia | 0.3% |
| 47 | South Dakota | 0.6% |
| 48 | Texas | 0.9% |
| 49 | Rhode Island | 1.5% |
Alerts Sign-up