"47% of all government jobs added in the US between 2007 and 2010 were added in Texas."

[ProSense]

Do Texas’s government jobs count as jobs?

By Adam Serwer

Republicans tend to shrug at the fact that private sector job gains have been offset by public sector job losses, viewing government workers as collateral damage in their quest to shrink government. For them, public sector job losses don’t count because those aren’t “real” jobs. This, despite the fact that those job losses have hurt the economy by leading to less consumer demand.

But those government jobs suddenly do seem to count when it comes to Governor Rick Perry of Texas. As former White House adviser Jared Bernstein writes today, part of Perry’s success at dealing with unemployment — a record that’s being widely hailed by conservatives as proof of the success of Perry’s anti-government approach — comes from the fact that Texas is experiencing the opposite dynamic at work in the rest of the country: It’s added public sector jobs, while losing private sector jobs. Bernstein:

Over the last few years, government jobs have been awfully consequential in Texas: 47% of all government jobs added in the US between 2007 and 2010 were added in Texas.

The chart shows that Texas employment wasn’t down much at all in these years, as the state lost only 53,000 jobs. But looming behind that number are large losses in the private sector (down 178,000) and large gains (up 125,000) in government jobs.

Good for Perry, and good for Texas. But as Bernstein notes, this hardly matches up with Perry’s anti-government rhetoric, or the national GOP’s indifference to public sector job-loss nationwide. Stemming public sector job losses are one aspect of the economy where the federal government can make a significant impact — if only Republicans Congress were willing to invest in doing that, instead of proclaiming “we’re broke” and then demanding more spending cuts and tax cuts for the wealthy. But when public sector job growth does take place — as in Texas — conservatives are happy to use those numbers as part of their case for their anti-government ideology.

Via Jared Bernstein

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How did that happen? Well, Gov Perry has a funny way of going about that “inconsequential” thing. According to many news accounts from back in the Recovery Act days:

“Turns out Texas was the state that depended the most on those very stimulus funds to plug nearly 97% of its shortfall for fiscal 2010, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.”

Now, I’ve got no problem with a state government using Recovery Act funds to retain or create jobs. In fact, the figure and quote above shows Texas to be following a traditional Keynesian game plan: as the private sector contracts, turn to the public sector to temporarily make up part of the difference.

So, no disrespect Gov, but when you’re getting your Keynes on like that, no need to hide it behind all that anti-gov’t rhetoric.

Also see:

REPORT: Texas Ranks Dead Last In Total Job Creation, Accounting For Labor Force Growth

[moksha]

1. This further exposes Perry as the hypocrite he is. But. a government

job is a job and we should be seeing more of those across the country, from states and the feds. I'm not sure how much this argument--that Perry's job creation relied on public employment--helps Obama attack his job creation record.

[leveymg]

2. Probably 85% of those jobs are defense and prison industry-related

Even the Texas GOP knows it has to Feed the Beast, or they'll end up in its belly, as well.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. It's a Texas miracle!

Musta been all (p)Rick's prayin' wat dunnit!

[progressoid]

4. Ahhh haaahahaha.

Perry=Fail

[VWolf]

5. Goddam Texas socialists! n/t