The first three years of the 21st century were rough sledding for New York State's economy, which lost 270,000 private sector jobs between 2000 through 2003. But the government sector -- and the most heavily tax-subsidized private employers -- didn't feel much pain, according to the latest state employment data.

During this period, as shown in the table below, the average government wage increased twice as fast (8 percent) as the average private sector wage (4 percent), and total government employment actually rose. This trend is especially remarkable considering that 2000-03 also featured a round of government early retirement programs, in which agencies shed some of their most experienced and highly paid employees.

Countering the trend in most private-sector industries, employment also rose in the health and social services sector, and the average wage in the sector rose a healthy 12 percent. Manufacturing wages rose, too, by 13 percent. But the state was losing 135,000 manufacturing jobs at the same time.