D.C. area / Local governments restart hiring

As many state and local governments strengthen their once-shaky fiscal footing, there are signs that municipalities in the Washington region have returned to a more normal trajectory for hiring after being constrained during the recession and its immediate aftermath.

The government sector added 8,900 jobs in the D.C. area in 2012, according to the Labor Department. That’s nearly twice as many jobs as it added here the previous year. And the sector managed to make those gains despite significant drag from the federal government, where 3,400 positions were lost.

These figures offer evidence that, as the economic recovery crawls forward, some local governments are shaking off the cautious hiring posture that abounded among municipal employers in recent years.

“The state and local governments, the worst is over for them,” said James Bohnaker, associate economist at Moody’s Analytics.

Choosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor from

via Local governments become less cautious on hiring – The Washington Post.