Employment in political organizations

Over 16,000 people were employed in the political organizations industry in March 2020. Political organizations employment has been rising since early 2019. It has been above 10,000 since July 2019, which is the first time it has passed that level during a month in a year without any normally scheduled national elections.

Over the 2001–2019 period, employment in political organizations has averaged about 7,300 in years with no national elections, 11,400 in years with congressional (but not presidential) elections, and 12,600 in years with presidential and congressional elections.

Employment in political organizations varies from month to month with the national election schedule. Since 2001, in years with no national elections, employment has ranged from 5,175 (in February 2001) to 13,535 (in November 2019). In years with congressional elections, employment has been as low as 6,607 (in January 2002) and as high as 23,724 (October 2018). In presidential election years, it has ranged between 7,825 and 22,367 (in December and October 2016).

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program. To obtain more employment data, visit the QCEW data retrieval tool. The political organizations industry includes political parties, political action committees (PACs), political campaign organizations, and political organizations and clubs that are engaged in promoting the interests of political parties or candidates.