The slump in state and local government jobs, which has dragged on job growth throughout the recovery, has started to wane. The new drag: A more austere federal government.

The government sector shed 4,000 jobs in June but the breakdown is a stark contrast from the recovery thus far, where most of the jobs losses were in cities and states. Last month the federal government cut 4,000 jobs while states cut 1,000 and local governments actually added 4,000.

As the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute notes, where public sector jobs are concerned, this has been the worst recovery in recent memory. But state and local governments, while still under stress, are at least seeing increased revenue. State governments, in fact, are finally bringing in more tax revenue than they did before the recession. “Going forward, the ongoing improvement in [state and local] tax receipts should ultimately translate into faster spending and hiring,” said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank, in a recent note to clients.

But the federal government — which is cutting for a host of reasons including a continuing Post Office restructuring and in anticipation of big budget cuts set to take effect in January — has cut 25,000 jobs this year. That compares with 23,000 for the state and local sector, even though the federal government accounts for only one job for every six in the cities and states. In April, the federal sector fell below its pre-recession jobs tally, and now has 19,000 fewer jobs than it did in the first month of the recovery.

According to the survey of households, the government sector has cut more than a million jobs since December 2008, and without those cuts the unemployment rate would be 7.3%. (For more explanation see this post on April’s numbers.)

There are, of course, plenty of good reasons for government cutbacks, including the ballooning federal deficit and the big pension and health-care promises cities and states have promised their employees but haven’t adequately saved for. The message from today’s report is that even if cities and states are starting to get their fiscal house in order, the government is likely to keep dragging on the recovery and job market.