State Employment Grows while More North Carolinians Lose Jobs

The number of state government employees in North Carolina has risen at a healthy clip at the same time the private sector lost 50,000 jobs.

North Carolina state government added 34,824 full-time equivalent positions from 2001 through 2009, an increase of 12.3%.[1] Conversely, North Carolina’s private sector shed 49,900 jobs during that time, a workforce reduction of 1.6%.[2]

These divergent employment trends mean that the number of private sector workers to each state employee has dropped from 11.4 to 10.

	December 2001	December 2009	Number of Jobs Added (Lost)	% Change from 2001-2009
Private Sector	3,217,300	3,167,400	(49,900)	-1.6%
State Government	282,135	316,959	34,824	12.3%

As state government absorbs a larger and larger share of the state’s labor market, North Carolina taxpayers should be concerned for a number of reasons:

• Growing government consumes more resources from the productive economy, meaning less productive investment for future job growth and income gains.
• A shrinking number of private sector workers supporting each state employee places a larger tax burden on the remaining private sector workers.
• A growing state workforce increases long-term budgetary obligations such as salaries, benefits and pensions. The state budget already faces massive deficits, and its already unsustainable growth rate has been well documented.

The contrast between increasing state employees and declining private sector jobs underscores the continued growth of state government in North Carolina. More and more of this state’s resources – including labor – are being controlled by the State.

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