EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EDT, AUGUST 12, 1999 (THURSDAY) Public Information Office CB99-135 301-457-3030/301-457-3670(fax) 301-457-1037 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Ellen Thompson 301-457-1487 State and Local Government Employment Up Nearly 2 Percent in 1998, Census Bureau Says State and local governments employed 12.8 million full-time workers in 1998, 1.7 percent more than in 1997 (12.6 million), according to tabulations for the 50 states and the District of Columbia released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. The tabulations from 1998 state and local government employment and payroll data showed that most full-time employees worked in education (6.3 million), hospital services (836,000) and police protection (784,000). Other employment categories are corrections, fire protection, air transportation, streets and highways, solid waste management and financial and central government administration. The new tabulations also cover part-time employment, gross payrolls, part-time employee hours worked and full-time equivalent employment. As with all surveys, the data are subject to sampling variability, as well as nonsampling error. Sources of nonsampling error include errors of response, nonreporting and coverage. Measures of sampling variability, presented as relative standard errors, are shown in the tables. -X-