Democrat President Joe Biden is now edging closer to setting a record for his efforts to expand America’s bureaucratic state.
The total number of government employees in the U.S. is now close to a new record, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Biden’s historic expansion is only being outdone by one other month in the country’s history.
The U.S. added 49,000 government jobs in November.
32,000 of those jobs were local and 17,000 of those were federal.
The increase brings the total number of government employees to 22,967,000, according to the BLS.
The number of total government employees in November is only outdone by one other month.
In May 2010, former President Barack Obama oversaw 22,996,000 people being employed by the government.
This record was set as a result of temporary hiring used to perform the census that year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED).
The increase in government employment follows consistent growth in the sector, with the government adding 65,000 and 63,000 employees in October and September, respectively, according to the BLS.
If the trend continues into December, the number will exceed 23 million, a record high.
Jobs report comes in at 199k. 50k of that government jobs.
This is not a strong report.
— Brian Brenberg (@BrianBrenberg) December 8, 2023
Government hiring typically increases substantially in the months around census collection, which occurs in the U.S. in years that end with a zero, with the Census Bureau hiring thousands of temporary workers, peaking in May, to fulfill collection obligations, according to the Census Bureau.
US non-farm payroll jobs rose by a better-than-expected 199K jobs in November, up from October. Job gains occurred in health care, leisure and hospitality, and state and local government. Employment also increased in manufacturing, reflecting the return of workers from a strike. pic.twitter.com/y9c5GUIDf2
— Dr Thomas Kevin Swift (@DrTKSwift) December 8, 2023
The expected increase in government hiring for the 2020 census never came to fruition due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic halted hiring efforts in February of that year, stopping at 22,871,000 government positions, according to FRED.
Total government employment declined following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping rapidly to 21,396,000 positions by May 2020, but steadily rising ever since to its current position.
The U.S. added 199,000 jobs in November, boosted by around 47,000 employees returning to work after the conclusion of strikes from the United Auto Workers and the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA.
The number of jobs added by the government for the month was exceeded only by gains in the healthcare sector, which added 77,000 in November.
Another round of very mixed data, but in line w/ recession early next year – here's a plan English, deep dive 🧵 on the Nov jobs report, including why the unemployment rate is much higher than the official number: pic.twitter.com/zvoYuJDfPB
— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) December 8, 2023
