Local government jobs in Houston are on the rise.
According to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area’s government industry employed 352,400 people in June 2008, an increase of 1.7 percent from last year. The state as a whole employed 1,754,600 in the government industry, a 1.1 percent increase from last year.
The City of Houston’s government is led by a mayor and all municipal elections are nonpartisan. The city’s elected officials include the mayor, city controller and 14 city council members. The mayor serves as the city’s chief administrator, executive officer and official representative and is responsible for the management of the city and seeing that all laws and ordinances are enforced. The city council is made up of nine district-based and five at-large positions, which represent the entire city.
According to Texas Industry Profiles, Texas’s local government consists primarily of: justice, public order and safety activities at 57 percent, executive, legislative and general government at 34 percent, administration of human resource programs at 4 percent, administration of economic programs at 2 percent, community and housing program administration at 2 percent and administration of environmental programs at 1 percent.
The local government sector consists of local government agencies that administer, oversee and manage public programs that have executive, legislative or judicial authority over other institutions within a given area. These agencies also set policy, create laws, adjudicate civil and criminal legal cases and provide for public safety and national defense.
Government establishments usually oversee governmental programs and activities not performed by private establishments. They are typically engaged in the organization and financing of production of public goods and services, most of which are provided for free or at prices that are not economically significant. Government establishments also engage in a wide range of productive activities covering not only public goods and services but also individual goods and services similar to those produced in sectors typically identified with private-sector establishments.