Public sector employment down 1.5 million jobs since March

Via Inside Higher Ed, this Pew Charitable Trusts report:

In the public sector, officials responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by furloughing workers at shuttered facilities and trimming payrolls in the face of substantial projected budget shortfalls. Colleges, school districts, and other areas of state and local government have shed approximately 1.5 million jobs since March, but most have been furloughs or temporary layoffs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In all, employment for the sector has fallen to its lowest levels since 2001, eclipsing the declines that followed the Great Recession. 

Private industries have generally incurred greater percentage losses than the public sector. The lifting of lockdowns across the country brings hope for the return of private sector jobs, but many governments face bleak financial outlooks that continue to leave workers vulnerable.... 

...The state government education workforce, mostly public colleges and universities, similarly suffered a substantial blow, decreasing more than 9% in the weeks since the shutdowns began in response to the pandemic.

I am beginning to wonder if the results of the COVID-19 recession will be that the academic jobs of chemistry will suffer substantially more than industry and perhaps more than government positions.