You’ve probably heard by now that the economy lost 524,000 jobs in December, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was the 12th consecutive month of losses, and it brought 2008’s total job losses to a staggering 2.6 million — the most since 1945.
But the employment picture for (most) federal employees isn’t so bleak.
The federal government added 79,400 jobs in 2008. What’s remarkable is that, since 1999, the federal government added 182,700 jobs — so half of that growth came in just one year. And with the president-elect declaring yesterday that “only government” can end the recession, federal employment will probably continue to increase in 2009.
The one exception, of course, is the U.S. Postal Service, which shed 41,300 jobs in 2008.
