El empleo de las administraciones públicas en España: caracterización y evolución durante la crisis

We analyze the evolution of General Government employment in Spain over the economic crisis and the recent fiscal consolidation process. We characterize the changes in the structure and composition of General government workforce between economics sectors, level of administration, and type of contract. We also illustrate the impact of the most recent discretionary policy measures on the dynamics of hiring by the General Government sector and on the number of hours worked by public employees. In the paper we also provide review of the different statistical sources available on the number of public employees, including a discussion on their usefulness and an attempt at reconciling differences among them.