Popularity is no protection against budget cuts: The parts of government that Americans like the most — state, cities and counties, and the U.S. Postal Service — are also the ones shedding workers the fastest.

The most recent nonfarm payroll figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the public sector continues to be a drag on overall employment. Governments at all levels have shed 835,300 jobs since public-sector employment peaked in April 2009 (not counting the spike in early 2010 caused by temporary Census workers). The private sector, meanwhile, has regained 6.78 million jobs since bottoming out in February 2010, and over the past year has averaged 180,500 new jobs a month.

But the government-sector job cuts haven’t been spread evenly. In terms of sheer numbers, local schools have lost the most: 336,300 jobs over the past four years. Other local government cutbacks have eliminated 217,600 jobs; states (except for public colleges and universities) are down 160,300 jobs.

In a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March, 63% of people said they had a favorable opinion of their local government, a level that’s stayed fairly constant over several years; 57% expressed favorable views of their state government, a five-point uptick from last year. But  just 28% rated the federal government favorably, versus 65% unfavorably; the favorability rating was five points lower than a year earlier and the lowest ever in a Pew Research Center survey.

Notwithstanding the dim view most people take of the federal government, and despite the wide-ranging budget cuts known as “sequestration,” most of the federal payroll remains intact. Leaving aside one big exception, there were 20,000 fewer federal employees last month than there were four years earlier, a decline of less than 1%.

The exception is the long-suffering Postal Service, where employment is down by 132,300 jobs, or 18.3%, since April 2009. The Postal Service has been shedding workers for years, though the pace picked up during the recession; it accounts for 15.8% of all government job cuts since April 2009, even though it employed only 3.2% of the total government workforce.

Even so, the Postal Service is one of the better-regarded arms of the federal government. In a 2010 Pew Research survey, 83% of people said they had a favorable opinion of the Postal Service, the highest level among the 13 agencies asked about. More recently, 60% of respondents in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll said they had “very” (28%) or “somewhat” (32%) positive feelings toward the Postal Service — more than President Obama, either major party, the Catholic Church or the NRA.

The one government sector that’s actually added jobs has been state education, which is up 31,200 jobs (or 1.3%) since April 2009. Although many state legislatures have reduced funding for public colleges and universities over that time, tuition bills have risen sharply to compensate.

Drew DeSilver is a senior writer at the Pew Research Center.

The most recent nonfarm payroll figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the public sector continues to be a drag on overall employment. Governments at all levels have shed 835,300 jobs since public-sector employment peaked in April 2009 (not counting the spike in early 2010 caused by temporary Census workers). The private sector, meanwhile, has regained 6.78 million jobs since bottoming out in February 2010, and over the past year has averaged 180,500 new jobs a month.

But the government-sector job cuts haven’t been spread evenly. In terms of sheer numbers, local schools have lost the most: 336,300 jobs over the past four years. Other local government cutbacks have eliminated 217,600 jobs; states (except for public colleges and universities) are down 160,300 jobs.

In a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March, 63% of people said they had a favorable opinion of their local government, a level that’s stayed fairly constant over several years; 57% expressed favorable views of their state government, a five-point uptick from last year. But  just 28% rated the federal government favorably, versus 65% unfavorably; the favorability rating was five points lower than a year earlier and the lowest ever in a Pew Research Center survey.

Notwithstanding the dim view most people take of the federal government, and despite the wide-ranging budget cuts known as “sequestration,” most of the federal payroll remains intact. Leaving aside one big exception, there were 20,000 fewer federal employees last month than there were four years earlier, a decline of less than 1%.

The exception is the long-suffering Postal Service, where employment is down by 132,300 jobs, or 18.3%, since April 2009. The Postal Service has been shedding workers for years, though the pace picked up during the recession; it accounts for 15.8% of all government job cuts since April 2009, even though it employed only 3.2% of the total government workforce.

Even so, the Postal Service is one of the better-regarded arms of the federal government. In a 2010 Pew Research survey, 83% of people said they had a favorable opinion of the Postal Service, the highest level among the 13 agencies asked about. More recently, 60% of respondents in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll said they had “very” (28%) or “somewhat” (32%) positive feelings toward the Postal Service — more than President Obama, either major party, the Catholic Church or the NRA.

The one government sector that’s actually added jobs has been state education, which is up 31,200 jobs (or 1.3%) since April 2009. Although many state legislatures have reduced funding for public colleges and universities over that time, tuition bills have risen sharply to compensate.

For the past seven years, a period covering the final two years of the Bush administration and President Obama’s first term, no more than about three-in-ten Americans have said they trust the federal government to do the right thing always or most of the time.

Our Jan. 2013 survey found only 26% saying they can trust government always or most of the time, while 73% say they can trust the government only some of the time or never. Majorities across all partisan and demographic groups express little or no trust in government. However, there are disparities: more than twice as many Hispanics as whites 44% vs. 20%) trust the federal government, and more blacks (38%) than whites trust the government. People younger than 30 have more trust in government than do older people. And far more Democrats (38%) than independents (21%) or Republicans (15%) say they can trust the government at least most of the time.

A majority of Americans also say the federal government is a threat to their personal rights and freedoms.

In the January 2013 survey,  76% of conservative Republicans regard the government as a threat to their personal rights and freedoms and 54% consider the government to be a “major” threat, an increase over three years ago when 62% of them described it as a threat to their freedom and 47% said it was a “major” threat. By comparison, there is little change in opinion among Democrats; 38% say the government poses a threat to their personal freedoms and 16% view it as “major.”

Fewer Americans have a favorable view of the federal government, with the biggest decline in recent years coming among Democrats.

Since Barack Obama’s first year in office, favorable assessments of the federal government dropped 14 points, according to our March 2013 survey. For the first time since Obama became president, more Democrats say they have an unfavorable view of the federal government in Washington than a favorable view (51% unfavorable vs. 41% favorable).

The more negative view of the federal government has resulted in a growing gap between how Americans see Washington as compared to their state and local governments.

Ten years ago, roughly two-thirds of Americans offered favorable assessments of all three levels of government: federal, state and local. But in a survey conducted March 2013,public views of the federal government in Washington have fallen to a new low, while the public continues to see their state and local governments in a favorable light.

In the 2012 Values survey, 69% of Americans said the federal government should only run things that cannot be done at the local level.

Government Role

While many Americans may oppose a range of cuts in specific government programs, the public overall favors smaller government providing fewer services than a bigger government providing more services.

Currently, Americans say by a 56 to 35% margin that they prefer a smaller government providing fewer services than a bigger one, according to our Sept. 2012 survey. These opinions have changed little over the course of Barack Obama’s presidency, although the margin did narrow in 2008. There was a substantial partisan divide on this question: 87% of Republicans favored the smaller government option compared to 28% of Democrats. Conversely, Democrats preferred bigger government over a smaller one by a 60% to 11% margin over Republicans. Independents favored a smaller government over a bigger one by 65% to 27%.  

The trend in public opinion favoring a smaller role for government is reflected in declining support for the social safety net.

While a majority of Americans has consistently agreed it is the responsibility of government to take care of people who can’t take care of themselves, this has slipped to 59% from 63% in 2009 and 69% in 2007, according to our Values Study conducted in April 2012.

Since 2007, Republican support for the safety net has declined significantly even as Democrats continue to support government aid to the poor and needy as they have over the last 25 years. As a result, the current party gap is now larger than ever.

Government regulation of business has become one of the nation’s most politically divisive issues.

In nearly every political values survey since 1987, majorities have agreed that “government regulation of business usually does more harm than good.” Partisan differences on this measure were far greater in 2012 than they were in 2007, the final year of George Bush’s presidency. About three-quarters (76%) of Republicans said that government regulation of business did more harm than good, among the highest ever. Just 41% of Democrats agreed, one of their lowest percentages ever.

Branches of Government

Americans have a highly negative view of Congress.

Opinions about Congress remain very negative, according to our Jan. 2013 survey:  just 23% offer a favorable opinion while 68% express and unfavorable view.In 2009, 50% of the public regarded Congress favorably and, between 1985 and 2005, Congress was viewed more favorably than unfavorably.  Virtually identical majorities of Republicans (58%), Democrats (57%) and independents (56%) put the blame on members of Congress, not the political system.

Unfavorable views of the Supreme Court are close to an all-time low.

A survey conducted March 2013 found that 52% viewed the court favorably while 31% regarded it unfavorably. Republicans’ views of the court, which tumbled 18 points following the court’s ruling last year on the health care law, have rebounded somewhat. Nearly half of Republicans (47%) have a favorable opinion of the Supreme Court, up from 38% last July, but still lower than the 56% who viewed the court positively prior to its decision on the health care law. By contrast, Democrats’ impressions of the court have slipped since last July, from 64% to 56%.

Browse our data point sheets on other topics:

Overview |Deficit and Debt| Economy | Middle Class | Gun Control | U.S.-China Relations | Immigration | Climate Change | Gay Marriage | U.S.-Middle East Relations | Foreign Policy | U.S. Catholics | Iran