Rising property tax revenues, tax hikes, and the broader economic recovery are driving the longest municipal government hiring streak in the United States since 2008. However, many jobs eliminated during the recession won't be returning.
"Cities across the U.S. are starting to hire new teachers, firefighters and police officers as a deep and prolonged slide in local-government employment appears to have bottomed out four years after the recession ended," report Mark Peters and Stephanie Banchero. "So far this year, 46,000 new jobs have been created on a seasonally adjusted basis. Local-government employment through June stood at 14.08 million, the highest level in more than a year and a half, though still well below a peak of 14.61 million in mid-2008."
However, assert the authors, some jobs eliminated during the recession won't be coming back. "Innovation and efficiency, doing better with less—that's the trend going forward nationally, state, local," said Phoenix City Manager David Cavazos.
"Moody's Analytics is forecasting a continued rise in hiring," Peters and Banchero add, "with local government adding a total of 90,000 jobs this year and 300,000 jobs in 2014. The firm, however, doesn't expect local-government payrolls to reach their all-time peak until late 2015 at the earliest."
Read the full story: Cities Begin Hiring Again
Public Sector Stops Firing, and Starts Hiring
According to new data, state and local governments hired 828,000 workers in the first four months of the year, "up 20% from a year earlier, and the most since 2008," stoking hopes that government job growth may be on the way.
Jobs Remain Elusive in Many Metros
Only 16 of 384 metropolitan areas saw job increases over the last year, according to a new study.
How Does an Economic Downturn Impact City Infrastructure?
From budget cuts to delayed maintenance projects, cities adapt, prioritize, and innovate amidst financial challenges to ensure sustainable and resilient urban environments.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Malls are becoming the midtowns of the future
Mall and office park redevelopments are a generational opportunity to create new nodes of urbanity.
Officials claim feds 'rushed' Amtrak environmental review
Amtrak plans to move their Chicago maintenance facility from an industrial area to a residential one.
NYC breaks ground on anti-flooding infrastructure project
New York City's new system will reduce stormwater flows to local sewers by 90%.
One Kentucky town’s secret to affordable housing
The Smoketown Community Land Trust has already built seven affordable homes for community members.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority