Trying to Measure New York State's Workforce

Say what you will about the federal government, at least Uncle Sam knows the size of his workforce (as long as you don't try to factor in contractors, grantees, etc.). The same can't be said for the state of New York.

The New York Times reports the state actually has two public workforces: One controlled by the governor that totals 131,000 employees, and another made up of people employed by independent public authorities and agencies. The latter is estimated to be about 163,000 workers, although it's impossible to tell exactly how many because the agencies don't all report their numbers to a central registry.