Surprising Sentence

" Government employment is declining nationally by the sharpest annual rate since the 1940s."

That's from this Atlantic post on government employment--the discussion is of government at all levels.  It doesn't allow for contractors (I think I saw something that more American contractors died in Afghanistan last year than military troops.)

It was surprising to see Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Caroline, three states with Republican governors which vote red consistently, among the 10 states with the most government employees.