Public Employees Make Up 12.3% Of The Illinois Workforce, Study Finds

By The Center Square Staff:

The share of the Illinois workforce employed by local, state or federal governments was 12.3 percent prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the fourth lowest percentage among the 50 states, according to a new study from the website 24/7 Wall St.

The public-sector workers in Illinois numbered 636,737, based on 2019 data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics unit. And since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, more than 860,000 state and local public education jobs have been lost, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Nationwide, the three levels of government employ about 20.2 million, representing nearly 15 percent of the U.S. workforce, 24/7 Wall St. reported. Education and library jobs make up nearly three-fourths of all government jobs, the study found.

The percentage of government workers varies significantly from state to state, according to 24/7 Wall St., from a low of 12 percent in Massachusetts to a high of 27 percent in Wyoming.

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Source: 24/7 Wall St.

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