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Federal employment reached lowest level since 2014

January 30, 2026

In October 2025, federal government employment fell by 179,000 to its lowest level since July 2014 as some federal employees who accepted a deferred resignation offer came off federal payrolls. Federal employees on furlough during the government shutdown were counted as employed in the establishment survey because they received pay, even if later than usual, for the pay period that included the 12th of the month.

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Federal government employment, January 1995–December 2025, seasonally adjusted
Month	Employment	1-month net change	12-month net change
Jan 1995	2,973,000	-10,000	-80,000
Feb 1995	2,970,000	-3,000	-76,000
Mar 1995	2,965,000	-5,000	-78,000
Apr 1995	2,964,000	-1,000	-70,000
May 1995	2,959,000	-5,000	-68,000
Jun 1995	2,959,000	0	-58,000
Jul 1995	2,949,000	-10,000	-60,000
Aug 1995	2,943,000	-6,000	-59,000
Sep 1995	2,929,000	-14,000	-73,000
Oct 1995	2,934,000	5,000	-63,000
Nov 1995	2,913,000	-21,000	-71,000
Dec 1995	2,903,000	-10,000	-80,000
Jan 1996	2,900,000	-3,000	-73,000
Feb 1996	2,905,000	5,000	-65,000
Mar 1996	2,900,000	-5,000	-65,000
Apr 1996	2,894,000	-6,000	-70,000
May 1996	2,887,000	-7,000	-72,000
Jun 1996	2,884,000	-3,000	-75,000
Jul 1996	2,877,000	-7,000	-72,000
Aug 1996	2,873,000	-4,000	-70,000
Sep 1996	2,866,000	-7,000	-63,000
Oct 1996	2,845,000	-21,000	-89,000
Nov 1996	2,845,000	0	-68,000
Dec 1996	2,839,000	-6,000	-64,000
Jan 1997	2,845,000	6,000	-55,000
Feb 1997	2,838,000	-7,000	-67,000
Mar 1997	2,836,000	-2,000	-64,000
Apr 1997	2,816,000	-20,000	-78,000
May 1997	2,813,000	-3,000	-74,000
Jun 1997	2,815,000	2,000	-69,000
Jul 1997	2,778,000	-37,000	-99,000
Aug 1997	2,777,000	-1,000	-96,000
Sep 1997	2,772,000	-5,000	-94,000
Oct 1997	2,791,000	19,000	-54,000
Nov 1997	2,796,000	5,000	-49,000
Dec 1997	2,789,000	-7,000	-50,000
Jan 1998	2,772,000	-17,000	-73,000
Feb 1998	2,768,000	-4,000	-70,000
Mar 1998	2,762,000	-6,000	-74,000
Apr 1998	2,752,000	-10,000	-64,000
May 1998	2,762,000	10,000	-51,000
Jun 1998	2,762,000	0	-53,000
Jul 1998	2,771,000	9,000	-7,000
Aug 1998	2,776,000	5,000	-1,000
Sep 1998	2,772,000	-4,000	0
Oct 1998	2,778,000	6,000	-13,000
Nov 1998	2,790,000	12,000	-6,000
Dec 1998	2,785,000	-5,000	-4,000
Jan 1999	2,765,000	-20,000	-7,000
Feb 1999	2,773,000	8,000	5,000
Mar 1999	2,767,000	-6,000	5,000
Apr 1999	2,793,000	26,000	41,000
May 1999	2,764,000	-29,000	2,000
Jun 1999	2,766,000	2,000	4,000
Jul 1999	2,765,000	-1,000	-6,000
Aug 1999	2,773,000	8,000	-3,000
Sep 1999	2,766,000	-7,000	-6,000
Oct 1999	2,766,000	0	-12,000
Nov 1999	2,767,000	1,000	-23,000
Dec 1999	2,771,000	4,000	-14,000
Jan 2000	2,768,000	-3,000	3,000
Feb 2000	2,796,000	28,000	23,000
Mar 2000	2,884,000	88,000	117,000
Apr 2000	2,911,000	27,000	118,000
May 2000	3,244,000	333,000	480,000
Jun 2000	3,004,000	-240,000	238,000
Jul 2000	2,942,000	-62,000	177,000
Aug 2000	2,868,000	-74,000	95,000
Sep 2000	2,745,000	-123,000	-21,000
Oct 2000	2,736,000	-9,000	-30,000
Nov 2000	2,737,000	1,000	-30,000
Dec 2000	2,745,000	8,000	-26,000
Jan 2001	2,753,000	8,000	-15,000
Feb 2001	2,752,000	-1,000	-44,000
Mar 2001	2,755,000	3,000	-129,000
Apr 2001	2,755,000	0	-156,000
May 2001	2,758,000	3,000	-486,000
Jun 2001	2,780,000	22,000	-224,000
Jul 2001	2,783,000	3,000	-159,000
Aug 2001	2,780,000	-3,000	-88,000
Sep 2001	2,770,000	-10,000	25,000
Oct 2001	2,763,000	-7,000	27,000
Nov 2001	2,759,000	-4,000	22,000
Dec 2001	2,751,000	-8,000	6,000
Jan 2002	2,756,000	5,000	3,000
Feb 2002	2,757,000	1,000	5,000
Mar 2002	2,755,000	-2,000	0
Apr 2002	2,755,000	0	0
May 2002	2,768,000	13,000	10,000
Jun 2002	2,768,000	0	-12,000
Jul 2002	2,757,000	-11,000	-26,000
Aug 2002	2,762,000	5,000	-18,000
Sep 2002	2,768,000	6,000	-2,000
Oct 2002	2,780,000	12,000	17,000
Nov 2002	2,781,000	1,000	22,000
Dec 2002	2,780,000	-1,000	29,000
Jan 2003	2,789,000	9,000	33,000
Feb 2003	2,789,000	0	32,000
Mar 2003	2,791,000	2,000	36,000
Apr 2003	2,769,000	-22,000	14,000
May 2003	2,753,000	-16,000	-15,000
Jun 2003	2,763,000	10,000	-5,000
Jul 2003	2,760,000	-3,000	3,000
Aug 2003	2,751,000	-9,000	-11,000
Sep 2003	2,749,000	-2,000	-19,000
Oct 2003	2,742,000	-7,000	-38,000
Nov 2003	2,728,000	-14,000	-53,000
Dec 2003	2,740,000	12,000	-40,000
Jan 2004	2,732,000	-8,000	-57,000
Feb 2004	2,731,000	-1,000	-58,000
Mar 2004	2,731,000	0	-60,000
Apr 2004	2,753,000	22,000	-16,000
May 2004	2,730,000	-23,000	-23,000
Jun 2004	2,730,000	0	-33,000
Jul 2004	2,729,000	-1,000	-31,000
Aug 2004	2,729,000	0	-22,000
Sep 2004	2,729,000	0	-20,000
Oct 2004	2,724,000	-5,000	-18,000
Nov 2004	2,727,000	3,000	-1,000
Dec 2004	2,728,000	1,000	-12,000
Jan 2005	2,727,000	-1,000	-5,000
Feb 2005	2,728,000	1,000	-3,000
Mar 2005	2,733,000	5,000	2,000
Apr 2005	2,725,000	-8,000	-28,000
May 2005	2,734,000	9,000	4,000
Jun 2005	2,733,000	-1,000	3,000
Jul 2005	2,728,000	-5,000	-1,000
Aug 2005	2,731,000	3,000	2,000
Sep 2005	2,732,000	1,000	3,000
Oct 2005	2,735,000	3,000	11,000
Nov 2005	2,739,000	4,000	12,000
Dec 2005	2,733,000	-6,000	5,000
Jan 2006	2,727,000	-6,000	0
Feb 2006	2,733,000	6,000	5,000
Mar 2006	2,733,000	0	0
Apr 2006	2,733,000	0	8,000
May 2006	2,734,000	1,000	0
Jun 2006	2,736,000	2,000	3,000
Jul 2006	2,740,000	4,000	12,000
Aug 2006	2,733,000	-7,000	2,000
Sep 2006	2,732,000	-1,000	0
Oct 2006	2,731,000	-1,000	-4,000
Nov 2006	2,729,000	-2,000	-10,000
Dec 2006	2,730,000	1,000	-3,000
Jan 2007	2,731,000	1,000	4,000
Feb 2007	2,732,000	1,000	-1,000
Mar 2007	2,731,000	-1,000	-2,000
Apr 2007	2,732,000	1,000	-1,000
May 2007	2,733,000	1,000	-1,000
Jun 2007	2,729,000	-4,000	-7,000
Jul 2007	2,727,000	-2,000	-13,000
Aug 2007	2,738,000	11,000	5,000
Sep 2007	2,737,000	-1,000	5,000
Oct 2007	2,734,000	-3,000	3,000
Nov 2007	2,744,000	10,000	15,000
Dec 2007	2,756,000	12,000	26,000
Jan 2008	2,738,000	-18,000	7,000
Feb 2008	2,747,000	9,000	15,000
Mar 2008	2,752,000	5,000	21,000
Apr 2008	2,755,000	3,000	23,000
May 2008	2,757,000	2,000	24,000
Jun 2008	2,759,000	2,000	30,000
Jul 2008	2,767,000	8,000	40,000
Aug 2008	2,766,000	-1,000	28,000
Sep 2008	2,768,000	2,000	31,000
Oct 2008	2,772,000	4,000	38,000
Nov 2008	2,778,000	6,000	34,000
Dec 2008	2,775,000	-3,000	19,000
Jan 2009	2,786,000	11,000	48,000
Feb 2009	2,795,000	9,000	48,000
Mar 2009	2,797,000	2,000	45,000
Apr 2009	2,922,000	125,000	167,000
May 2009	2,860,000	-62,000	103,000
Jun 2009	2,814,000	-46,000	55,000
Jul 2009	2,826,000	12,000	59,000
Aug 2009	2,825,000	-1,000	59,000
Sep 2009	2,826,000	1,000	58,000
Oct 2009	2,843,000	17,000	71,000
Nov 2009	2,842,000	-1,000	64,000
Dec 2009	2,831,000	-11,000	56,000
Jan 2010	2,860,000	29,000	74,000
Feb 2010	2,872,000	12,000	77,000
Mar 2010	2,923,000	51,000	126,000
Apr 2010	2,984,000	61,000	62,000
May 2010	3,416,000	432,000	556,000
Jun 2010	3,193,000	-223,000	379,000
Jul 2010	3,051,000	-142,000	225,000
Aug 2010	2,945,000	-106,000	120,000
Sep 2010	2,869,000	-76,000	43,000
Oct 2010	2,866,000	-3,000	23,000
Nov 2010	2,866,000	0	24,000
Dec 2010	2,870,000	4,000	39,000
Jan 2011	2,874,000	4,000	14,000
Feb 2011	2,876,000	2,000	4,000
Mar 2011	2,877,000	1,000	-46,000
Apr 2011	2,870,000	-7,000	-114,000
May 2011	2,871,000	1,000	-545,000
Jun 2011	2,860,000	-11,000	-333,000
Jul 2011	2,862,000	2,000	-189,000
Aug 2011	2,850,000	-12,000	-95,000
Sep 2011	2,846,000	-4,000	-23,000
Oct 2011	2,850,000	4,000	-16,000
Nov 2011	2,842,000	-8,000	-24,000
Dec 2011	2,836,000	-6,000	-34,000
Jan 2012	2,833,000	-3,000	-41,000
Feb 2012	2,828,000	-5,000	-48,000
Mar 2012	2,828,000	0	-49,000
Apr 2012	2,826,000	-2,000	-44,000
May 2012	2,823,000	-3,000	-48,000
Jun 2012	2,824,000	1,000	-36,000
Jul 2012	2,815,000	-9,000	-47,000
Aug 2012	2,820,000	5,000	-30,000
Sep 2012	2,822,000	2,000	-24,000
Oct 2012	2,824,000	2,000	-26,000
Nov 2012	2,809,000	-15,000	-33,000
Dec 2012	2,806,000	-3,000	-30,000
Jan 2013	2,806,000	0	-27,000
Feb 2013	2,806,000	0	-22,000
Mar 2013	2,794,000	-12,000	-34,000
Apr 2013	2,794,000	0	-32,000
May 2013	2,775,000	-19,000	-48,000
Jun 2013	2,771,000	-4,000	-53,000
Jul 2013	2,761,000	-10,000	-54,000
Aug 2013	2,754,000	-7,000	-66,000
Sep 2013	2,753,000	-1,000	-69,000
Oct 2013	2,739,000	-14,000	-85,000
Nov 2013	2,746,000	7,000	-63,000
Dec 2013	2,741,000	-5,000	-65,000
Jan 2014	2,736,000	-5,000	-70,000
Feb 2014	2,731,000	-5,000	-75,000
Mar 2014	2,728,000	-3,000	-66,000
Apr 2014	2,728,000	0	-66,000
May 2014	2,728,000	0	-47,000
Jun 2014	2,729,000	1,000	-42,000
Jul 2014	2,731,000	2,000	-30,000
Aug 2014	2,735,000	4,000	-19,000
Sep 2014	2,735,000	0	-18,000
Oct 2014	2,735,000	0	-4,000
Nov 2014	2,740,000	5,000	-6,000
Dec 2014	2,743,000	3,000	2,000
Jan 2015	2,745,000	2,000	9,000
Feb 2015	2,747,000	2,000	16,000
Mar 2015	2,748,000	1,000	20,000
Apr 2015	2,763,000	15,000	35,000
May 2015	2,753,000	-10,000	25,000
Jun 2015	2,754,000	1,000	25,000
Jul 2015	2,756,000	2,000	25,000
Aug 2015	2,760,000	4,000	25,000
Sep 2015	2,759,000	-1,000	24,000
Oct 2015	2,759,000	0	24,000
Nov 2015	2,766,000	7,000	26,000
Dec 2015	2,776,000	10,000	33,000
Jan 2016	2,771,000	-5,000	26,000
Feb 2016	2,778,000	7,000	31,000
Mar 2016	2,783,000	5,000	35,000
Apr 2016	2,785,000	2,000	22,000
May 2016	2,792,000	7,000	39,000
Jun 2016	2,797,000	5,000	43,000
Jul 2016	2,800,000	3,000	44,000
Aug 2016	2,803,000	3,000	43,000
Sep 2016	2,806,000	3,000	47,000
Oct 2016	2,804,000	-2,000	45,000
Nov 2016	2,798,000	-6,000	32,000
Dec 2016	2,815,000	17,000	39,000
Jan 2017	2,813,000	-2,000	42,000
Feb 2017	2,812,000	-1,000	34,000
Mar 2017	2,810,000	-2,000	27,000
Apr 2017	2,798,000	-12,000	13,000
May 2017	2,808,000	10,000	16,000
Jun 2017	2,805,000	-3,000	8,000
Jul 2017	2,806,000	1,000	6,000
Aug 2017	2,802,000	-4,000	-1,000
Sep 2017	2,799,000	-3,000	-7,000
Oct 2017	2,802,000	3,000	-2,000
Nov 2017	2,791,000	-11,000	-7,000
Dec 2017	2,794,000	3,000	-21,000
Jan 2018	2,794,000	0	-19,000
Feb 2018	2,790,000	-4,000	-22,000
Mar 2018	2,792,000	2,000	-18,000
Apr 2018	2,800,000	8,000	2,000
May 2018	2,793,000	-7,000	-15,000
Jun 2018	2,798,000	5,000	-7,000
Jul 2018	2,799,000	1,000	-7,000
Aug 2018	2,801,000	2,000	-1,000
Sep 2018	2,805,000	4,000	6,000
Oct 2018	2,805,000	0	3,000
Nov 2018	2,809,000	4,000	18,000
Dec 2018	2,808,000	-1,000	14,000
Jan 2019	2,808,000	0	14,000
Feb 2019	2,810,000	2,000	20,000
Mar 2019	2,811,000	1,000	19,000
Apr 2019	2,827,000	16,000	27,000
May 2019	2,829,000	2,000	36,000
Jun 2019	2,833,000	4,000	35,000
Jul 2019	2,829,000	-4,000	30,000
Aug 2019	2,854,000	25,000	53,000
Sep 2019	2,852,000	-2,000	47,000
Oct 2019	2,837,000	-15,000	32,000
Nov 2019	2,842,000	5,000	33,000
Dec 2019	2,837,000	-5,000	29,000
Jan 2020	2,855,000	18,000	47,000
Feb 2020	2,857,000	2,000	47,000
Mar 2020	2,876,000	19,000	65,000
Apr 2020	2,875,000	-1,000	48,000
May 2020	2,876,000	1,000	47,000
Jun 2020	2,883,000	7,000	50,000
Jul 2020	2,908,000	25,000	79,000
Aug 2020	3,156,000	248,000	302,000
Sep 2020	3,123,000	-33,000	271,000
Oct 2020	2,981,000	-142,000	144,000
Nov 2020	2,892,000	-89,000	50,000
Dec 2020	2,897,000	5,000	60,000
Jan 2021	2,886,000	-11,000	31,000
Feb 2021	2,882,000	-4,000	25,000
Mar 2021	2,885,000	3,000	9,000
Apr 2021	2,895,000	10,000	20,000
May 2021	2,887,000	-8,000	11,000
Jun 2021	2,888,000	1,000	5,000
Jul 2021	2,888,000	0	-20,000
Aug 2021	2,887,000	-1,000	-269,000
Sep 2021	2,886,000	-1,000	-237,000
Oct 2021	2,876,000	-10,000	-105,000
Nov 2021	2,888,000	12,000	-4,000
Dec 2021	2,881,000	-7,000	-16,000
Jan 2022	2,878,000	-3,000	-8,000
Feb 2022	2,874,000	-4,000	-8,000
Mar 2022	2,869,000	-5,000	-16,000
Apr 2022	2,867,000	-2,000	-28,000
May 2022	2,863,000	-4,000	-24,000
Jun 2022	2,852,000	-11,000	-36,000
Jul 2022	2,862,000	10,000	-26,000
Aug 2022	2,859,000	-3,000	-28,000
Sep 2022	2,863,000	4,000	-23,000
Oct 2022	2,869,000	6,000	-7,000
Nov 2022	2,875,000	6,000	-13,000
Dec 2022	2,873,000	-2,000	-8,000
Jan 2023	2,882,000	9,000	4,000
Feb 2023	2,890,000	8,000	16,000
Mar 2023	2,897,000	7,000	28,000
Apr 2023	2,905,000	8,000	38,000
May 2023	2,914,000	9,000	51,000
Jun 2023	2,923,000	9,000	71,000
Jul 2023	2,928,000	5,000	66,000
Aug 2023	2,942,000	14,000	83,000
Sep 2023	2,948,000	6,000	85,000
Oct 2023	2,955,000	7,000	86,000
Nov 2023	2,957,000	2,000	82,000
Dec 2023	2,966,000	9,000	93,000
Jan 2024	2,977,000	11,000	95,000
Feb 2024	2,985,000	8,000	95,000
Mar 2024	2,997,000	12,000	100,000
Apr 2024	2,995,000	-2,000	90,000
May 2024	2,998,000	3,000	84,000
Jun 2024	3,000,000	2,000	77,000
Jul 2024	3,002,000	2,000	74,000
Aug 2024	3,004,000	2,000	62,000
Sep 2024	3,008,000	4,000	60,000
Oct 2024	3,011,000	3,000	56,000
Nov 2024	3,009,000	-2,000	52,000
Dec 2024	3,012,000	3,000	46,000
Jan 2025	3,015,000	3,000	38,000
Feb 2025	3,002,000	-13,000	17,000
Mar 2025	2,991,000	-11,000	-6,000
Apr 2025	2,978,000	-13,000	-17,000
May 2025	2,952,000	-26,000	-46,000
Jun 2025	2,943,000	-9,000	-57,000
Jul 2025	2,935,000	-8,000	-67,000
Aug 2025	2,916,000	-19,000	-88,000
Sep 2025	2,912,000	-4,000	-96,000
Oct 2025	2,733,000	-179,000	-278,000
Nov 2025	2,736,000	3,000	-273,000
Dec 2025	2,738,000	2,000	-274,000
Note: Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary.

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Federal government employment fell by 274,000 in 2025—the largest decline in any calendar year since 1946. Through November (the latest data available for most government agencies), the Department of Defense shed 68,000 jobs in 2025, federal hospitals shed 16,000 jobs, the U.S. Postal Service lost 6,000 jobs, and employment in other Federal agencies fell by 185,000.

Note that federal government employment spikes every 10 years because of temporary hiring associated with the constitutionally mandated decennial census.

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for November and December 2025 are preliminary. We also have more charts of national employment, hours, and earnings data.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Federal employment reached lowest level since 2014 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/federal-employment-reached-lowest-level-since-2014.htm (visited January 31, 2026).

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