Federal, state and local governments in the United States increased their employment by a combined 136,000 in March, according to the numbers released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In February, there were 21,477,000 people employed by government in the United States. In March that grew to 21,613,000.
Despite this month-to-month increase of 136,000 in government jobs, total government jobs in the United States have declined by 1,222,000 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2020, before the pandemic hit, there were 22,835,000 people employed by government in the United States.
Government employment hit an all-time peak of 22,996,000 in May 2010. Like 2020, 2010 was a federal Census year.
Government employment increased at the federal, state and local levels in March. Federal government employment increased by 7,000, rising from 2,875,000 to 2,882,000. State employment increased by 46,000, rising from 4,956,000 to 5,002,000. Local government employment increased by 83,000, rising from 13,646,000 to 13,729,000.