41% of Net New Jobs in November Were in Government

CNS News
December 6, 2013

President Barack Obama and Labor Secretary Thomas Perez (AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) - Federal, state and local governments hired a net additional 338,000 workers in November, equaling 41 percent of the total of 818,000 net additional jobs created in the United States during the month.

At the same time, the unemployment rate for government workers fell from 4.4 percent in October to 3.2 percent in November. (The overall national unemployment rate fell from 7.3 percent to 7.0  percent.)

In October, governments around the country employed 19,726,000 people, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In November, that rose to 20,064,000—a net increase of 338,000 people employed by government.

Overall, in October, 143,568,000 people in the United States had jobs, according to BLS. In November, that rose to 144,386,000—a net increase of 818,000 people employed.

The net increase of 338,000 people working for government equaled 41 percent of the overall net increase of 818,000 people working in the United States.

From October to November, the unemployment rate dropped from 7.3 percent to 7.0 percent. November was the 60th straight month that unemployment has been 7.0 percent or higher.

Despite the October-to-November increase in the number of people working for government in the United States, the 20,064,000 working for government this November was still fewer than the 20,598,000 who worked for the government in November 2012, according the BLS.

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