If you work for the government, your job is probably more secure if you live in a state not controlled by Republicans.
The 11 states that went red in the 2010 midterm election alone accounted for slightly more than 40 percent of the state-level public job losses last year, according to a new paper from progressive think tank The Roosevelt Institute. Those states also lost 2.5 percent of their government workforces in a single year on average, compared to an average of 0.5 percent in all the other states.
Texas, which was already Republican in 2010, makes up an additional 31 percent of the job cuts, the paper found.
While those 12 states may be hit the hardest by government layoffs, public sector workers all over the country suffered last year, as state and local governments looked for ways to cut costs amid looming budget crisies. Roughly 700,000 public sector jobs were cut in the last three years. Last year, government job cuts alone accounted for one-third of all U.S. layoffs, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas.
Even those government workers lucky enough to keep their jobs suffered. State and local government workers saw their wages grow by only 1.2 percent between October 2010 and September 2011. In addition, federal government workers saw a wage boost of 1.3 percent -- the lowest rate of growth in more than a decade, according to USA Today.
All of this lack of job and salary security could be pushing college students to turn their noses up at government work. Just 6 percent of students said they wanted to work for the government, according to a survey conducted in early 2011 by the partnership for public service. In addition, the share of college students interested in working for the government has dropped two years in a row.