From today’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) unemployment report,
In January, federal government employment continued to decline (-34,000) as some federal employees who accepted a deferred resignation offer in 2025 came off federal payrolls. Since reaching a peak in October 2024, federal government employment is down by 327,000, or 10.9 percent.
Quite a turnaround. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate continues to fall, down to 4.3 percent in January. Payroll jobs were up for January (+130,000), overall, even as government employment (all levels) fell (-42,000 last month).
New York Post headline,
US employers add 130K jobs in January in strong start to 2026
