3.6 Growth of Payroll

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3. Budget History

3.6 Payroll

The state payroll is a common indicator of the size of government. We can look at both the nominal and the real (corrected for inflation) payroll, including benefits, over time. Since 1990 inflation-adjusted payroll has not been increasing.

(See also the Comparison to the US average.)

Year	Sum of Personal Services ( million $)	Anchorage CPI	Inflation Adjusted to 2000 $ (million $)
Budgeted State Payroll
1981	$515.7	92.4	$842.3
1982	579.4	97.4	897.7
1983	730.1	99.2	1,110.5
1984	784.4	103.3	1,145.8
1985	834.7	105.8	1,190.5
1986	879.6	107.8	1,231.3
1987	804.8	108.2	1,122.4
1988	815.9	108.6	1,133.7
1989	883.5	111.7	1,193.5
1990	922.2	118.6	1,173.4
1991	1,002.4	124.0	1,219.9
1992	1,063.3	128.2	1,251.6
1993	1,082.1	132.2	1,235.2
1994	1,109.9	135.0	1,240.6
1995	1,133.2	138.9	1,231.2
1996	1,137.6	142.7	1,203.0
1997	1,137.6	144.8	1,185.5
1998	1,101.2	146.9	1,131.2
1999	1,156.3	148.4	1,175.8
2000	1,165.1	150.9	1,165.1
Sources:	Anchorage CPI Index, Legislative Finance.
	Sum of Personal Services - Legislative Finance, "Actual" Budgets.

Several other estimates are available that generally show the same pattern. The Alaska Department of Labor reports total payroll, excluding benefits, and the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis does the same calculation from the perspective of Washington D.C. The U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census also estimates government payroll during a specific month during the year.

Year	Alaska Dept of Labor	USDC Census	USDC Census: Monthly
State Government Payroll (million $)
1965	$52	-	$4.7
1966	60	-	5.3
1967	68	-	5.7
1968	77	-	6.6
1969	88	-	7.3
1970	107	-	9.1
1971	131	-	11.0
1972	154	-	12.9
1973	163	$162	13.1
1974	200	173	16.0
1975	247	238	20.1
1976	259	283	22.3
1977	290	313	25.6
1978	322	306	27.4
1979	359	351	30.0
1980	426	427	34.2
1981	485	526	40.1
1982	554	643	46.2
1983	607	695	54.2
1984	625	748	57.8
1985	695	755	66.6
1986	699	795	65.2
1987	650	755	64.1
1988	664	749	65.9
1989	715	844	70.1
1990	736	830	75.4
1991	813	885	74
1992	841	880	76
1993	852	898	79
1994	871	897	81.3
1995	866	893	79.8
1996	793	1,001	-
1997	784	976	80.8
1998	795	977	81.4
1999	800	-	84.6
2000	-	-	85.6
2001	-	-	-
Source: Alaska Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Commerce.

Year	Alaska Dept Labor	USDC Census	USDC Census: Monthly
State Government Payroll (million 1998 $)
1965	$211	-	$18.8
1966	233	-	20.6
1967	258	-	21.8
1968	285	-	24.4
1969	317	-	26.1
1970	374	-	31.7
1971	442	-	37.1
1972	507	-	42.3
1973	516	$510	41.2
1974	571	491	45.4
1975	620	595	50.2
1976	603	656	51.7
1977	633	682	55.7
1978	655	622	55.7
1979	665	651	55.5
1980	723	724	58.0
1981	764	828	63.1
1982	826	958	68.8
1983	898	1,028	80.2
1984	889	1,064	82.3
1985	961	1,044	92.1
1986	950	1,080	88.5
1987	882	1,024	86.9
1988	898	1,013	89.0
1989	940	1,110	92.1
1990	910	1,026	93.1
1991	961	1,046	87.4
1992	961	1,006	86.9
1993	944	996	87.5
1994	945	974	88.2
1995	915	944	84.3
1996	815	1,029	-
1997	794	989	81.8
1998	795	978	81.4
1999	791	-	83.8
2000	-	-	82.8
2001	-	-	-
Source: Alaska Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Commerce.

Since 1990, inflation-adjusted local government payroll has also been flat.

Year	Alaska Dept Labor	USDC Census	USDC Census: Monthly
Local Government Payroll (million $)
1965	$40	-	$3.9
1966	44	-	4.2
1967	51	-	4.7
1968	59	-	5.5
1969	68	-	5.8
1970	81	-	6.7
1971	99	-	8.2
1972	116	-	9.7
1973	127	$115	14.4
1974	138	142	15.2
1975	208	168	18.7
1976	263	210	20.7
1977	291	258	21.9
1978	357	258	25.8
1979	418	302	30.0
1980	464	363	35.2
1981	546	414	39.1
1982	649	475	47.0
1983	726	564	52.9
1984	802	597	59.4
1985	875	709	62.6
1986	899	770	65.2
1987	872	773	62.2
1988	857	809	64.4
1989	887	832	68.2
1990	925	827	71.1
1991	968	846	73.5
1992	1,037	875	75.1
1993	1,079	918	77.1
1994	1,121	929	94.5
1995	1,135	930	90.2
1996	1,131	961	-
1997	1,144	-	83.2
1998	1,141	-	81.3
1999	1,126	-	88.4
2000	-	-	91.4
2001	-	-	-
Source: Alaska Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Commerce.

Year	Alaska Dept Labor	USDC Census	USDC Census: Monthly
Local Government Payroll (million 1998 $)
1965	$161	-	$15.7
1966	172	-	16.5
1967	193	-	18.0
1968	220	-	20.3
1969	246	-	21.0
1970	282	-	23.1
1971	334	-	27.6
1972	382	-	32.0
1973	401	$363	45.5
1974	391	404	43.1
1975	519	421	46.7
1976	611	488	48.0
1977	633	561	47.7
1978	726	524	52.5
1979	774	559	55.5
1980	787	615	60.0
1981	859	651	61.5
1982	966	708	70.0
1983	1,074	834	78.2
1984	1,140	848	84.5
1985	1,210	981	86.6
1986	1,221	1,046	88.5
1987	1,183	1,049	84.3
1988	1,158	1,093	87.0
1989	1,166	1,093	90.0
1990	1,143	1,023	87.8
1991	1,144	1,000	86.9
1992	1,185	1,000	85.9
1993	1,196	1,018	85.5
1994	1,216	1,009	102.5
1995	1,199	982	95.2
1996	1,162	988	-
1997	1,159	-	84.2
1998	1,141	-	81.3
1999	1,114	-	-
2000	-	-	-
2001	-	-	-
Source: Alaska Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Commerce.

This slowdown in public payroll growth is reflected in a falling ratio of public payroll to personal income. The downward trend is more evident in state government than in local government.

Year	State and Local	State	Local
Government Payroll as Percent of Personal Income
1965	10.2%	5.8%	4.4%
1966	10.6	6.1	4.5
1967	10.9	6.2	4.7
1968	11.5	6.5	5
1969	11.1	6.3	4.9
1970	11.8	6.8	5.1
1971	13	7.4	5.6
1972	14	8	6
1973	12.8	7.2	5.6
1974	12.1	7.2	4.9
1975	11.6	6.3	5.3
1976	11	5.5	5.6
1977	11.9	5.9	5.9
1978	13.6	6.4	7.1
1979	14.6	6.7	7.8
1980	14.8	7.1	7.7
1981	14.9	7.0	7.9
1982	14.6	6.7	7.8
1983	14.3	6.5	7.8
1984	14.3	6.3	8.1
1985	14.6	6.5	8.1
1986	14.9	6.5	8.4
1987	14.6	6.2	8.4
1988	14.1	6.2	8
1989	13.6	6.1	7.5
1990	13.2	5.9	7.4
1991	13.5	6.1	7.3
1992	13.4	6.0	7.4
1993	13.1	5.8	7.3
1994	13.1	5.7	7.4
1995	12.9	5.6	7.3
1996	12.2	5.0	7.2
1997	11.7	4.8	7.0
1998	11.3	4.6	6.7
1999	-	-	-
2000	-	-	-
2001	-	-	-
Source: Alaska.Department of Labor, and U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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