Local government employment is frozen at last month’s level, while state and federal employment declines.

The federal Labor Department’s April jobs report showed a decrease in government employment. This is the first month of decline in government employment since November 2015.

Local government employment remained at the same level, 14.21 million, while federal and state employment declined.

Digging deeper into the unchanged local government employment number, Governing reports that,

In the public sector, local government jobs remained unchanged in April after recording moderate gains over the first three months of the year. Schools cut an estimated 8,500 positions, while noneducation local government employment rose by about the same tally.

According to Governing, the meaning of the report for future job growth is unclear,

It’s too early to say, however, whether the April report signals a coming slowdown in the economy or is merely a temporary hiccup in stronger growth over the long term.

For more information, see Governing‘s April Jobs Report: Gloomy for Public and Private Sectors.