Article source: ConstructConnect

Well this is a fine pickle, I must say. I’m about to try writing a Nuggets report based on the latest statistical releases and many of the U.S. economy’s key data series have not been updated due to the federal government shutdown. Workers at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which compiles jobs numbers and inflation rate figures, are still toiling away. But workers with the Census Bureau, which monitors foreign and retail trade, plus housing starts, are off the job.

The number of individuals employed by Washington on a normal workday is a little less than three million. Of that total, and with their paychecks being withheld, 800,000 are now staying at home or working for free. The figure grows considerably larger when sidelined contract workers are included in the tally. To date, this is taking a minor toll on consumer spending, but the impact will become more onerous the longer the stalemate between the President and the House lasts.

Prior to recent developments, the story concerning government employment has been largely snooze-inducing. The three levels of government employment – federal, state and local − account for 22.4 million jobs in total. The shares provided by each level have stayed relatively constant over the past ten years. Almost two-thirds (64.5%) of such workers are at the local level; almost one-quarter (23.0%) at the state level; and the remaining 12.5% at the federal level.

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