CT State Employees: More Women Than Men, Mostly Middle-Aged

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Of Connecticut’s 54,903 state employees in 2013, most were female, and between 40 and 60 years old, according to new demographic data released by the Office of Legislative Research based on information provided by the Office of State Comptroller’s CORE-CT data management system.

The breakdown comes just after indications that sCT state employeestate governments across the country are growing at a considerably slower rate than the private sector – which is true in Connecticut as well, where public sector jobs have been shed in recent years.

According to the state employee data:

  • Female state employees outnumber male state employees by 1,986
  • There are 9,277 employees aged 50 through 54 – the largest age group of state employees. 55% of them are female
  • 60%of state employees are between 40 and 60 years old.
  • 53% of the employees between 40 and 60 are female
  • 50.2% of state employees under 40 are male
  • 4% of state employees are age 65 or older
  • 58.8% of state employees age 70 and over are male.

The data includes employees of all three branches of government, higher education institutions, and quasi-public agencies.

Earlier this month, GOVERNING magazine reported that there hasn’t been much growth in the government sector nationwide – both federal and state governments – even as other sectors of the economy are reflecting positive growth as compared with a year ago.

A few of the nation’s larger industries have fared better than others, such as professional and business services (+3.5 percent) and construction (+3.1 percent). Total non-farm employment increased by 1.7 percent. Picture1

Meanwhile, state and local government employment hasn’t budged, the magazine reported, increasing just 0.2 and 0.4 percent, respectively. The federal government has shed an estimated 92,000 positions, a reduction of 3.3 percent.  The Labor Department reported this month that the national unemployment rate fell to 7 percent in November – a five-year low.

In Connecticut, it has been widely reported that state government had about 1,200 fewer full-time equivalent positions mid-year 2013, compared with January 2011.

Charts:  Office of Legislative Research, GOVERNING magazine