Things Are Getting Better: {State & Local Governments}

Barry Ritholtz has a new column over at Bloomberg noting that state and local government hiring is picking up.  He points to housing as the key driver:

"The primary reasons for this are housing and employment. Residential investment was a tremendous drag on economic activity from 2005 through 2010. That has since reversed, because of tax incentives and the extremely low rates engineered by the Fed’s quantitative easing.

From 2009 to early 2013, state and local governments were also a drag on economic growth. There is a direct correlation between improving residential real estate markets and local governments fiscal health. As property registrations, mortgage tax filings and certificates of occupancy increase, so too do local governments coffers improve.

With improving housing comes increased local government spending. Net net, state and local governments are no longer an economic drag."

Go read the whole thing here:  Bloomberg: Is State & Local Austerity Ending?