Government Jobs Soared to New Record for Another Month as Federal Debt Piles Up

by Will Kessler

The U.S. set a new record in January for the total number of Americans employed by the government, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The government added 36,000 new employees in January, with 11,000 in the federal government and 19,000 in local government, totaling 23,091,000, according to the BLS. January’s total outdid the previous record of 23,055,000 that was set in December, marking the third month in a row with a new record.

The previous record before the recent string of all-time highs was in May 2010 with 22,996,000 total government positions, which was bolstered by an uptick in hiring due to census collection that year. New methodology in February’s job report revised the number of government jobs up in November to 23,000,000, making January the third month in a row that the number of government positions has hit a new record, according to the BLS.

The government added 601,000 jobs to the U.S. economy in total over the past 12 months, with there being 22,490,000 in January 2023, according to the BLS. The government averaged 57,000 new jobs every month in 2023.

The uptick in government jobs accompanies a continued climb in government debt, with the national debt exceeding $34 trillion for the first time in U.S. history just before the end of December. In just the fourth quarter, the U.S. ran an $800 billion deficit while only gaining $328.7 billion in gross domestic product.

The expected increase in government hiring that typically happens in census years never came to fruition in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, halting hiring efforts in February of that year and stopping at 22,867,000 government positions, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The number of government jobs declined rapidly to 21,395,000 by May 2020 due to shutdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The economy in total added 353,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in January, far exceeding economists’ expectations of just 180,000. Despite the strong growth, January also saw a 136% increase in layoffs compared to December, with 82,307 positions being cut.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Will Kessler is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. 

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