State and local governments employed 15.8 million “full-time equivalent” workers in 2003, a 0.3 percent increase over 2002, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today.

     Of the total, state governments employed 4.2 million, a decrease of 0.9 percent. Local governments reported 11.6 million employees, a 0.8 percent increase over 2002.

     Tabulations from the 2003 Annual Survey of State and Local Government Employment and Payroll show that most full-time equivalent employees worked in education (8.4 million). The tabulations include other employment categories, such as corrections, financial administration, fire protection, health, hospitals, judicial and legal, police protection, public welfare, and streets and highways.

     (“Full-time equivalent” employees equal the number of full-time employees plus total hours worked by part-time employees divided by the standard work week.)

     As with all surveys, the data are subject to sampling variability, as well as nonsampling errors. 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.

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