The Brown New Labour hiring boom is over

The Brownite hiring boom seems to be over.

During the three months after the election, public sector sector employment decreased by 33,000. Although this may seem a large number, it shrinks into insignificance when compared to the overall level of public sector employment.  As of the end of September, there were some 6 million on the public payroll.

The declines were as follows:

• Local government employment decreased by 18,000.
• Central government employment decreased by 12,000 (this includes the NHS, which is the largest single component of public employment).
• Civil Service employment decreased by 8,000 to 515,000.

So far, the bulk of the reductions have  been in public adminstration (see the chart above).  However, the key service providers - health and education - have also seen a modest shakeout.  So far, defence appears to have been shielded from the early efforts of the coalition to rein in public expenditure.