Fed government employees lowest since '66; Locals are bloated

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting story about how, despite all the budget fights and claims of overspending in Washington, the federal government now employs the fewest people since the mid-1960s. According to Friday’s jobs report, the federal government now employs 2.7 million people (excluding non-civilian military). Among the economy’s largest job sectors, it was the only one to shrink over the past year.
The WSJ report includes lots of charts and graphs, including one that shows federal employment is now lower than it was when Ronald Reagan was preparing to launch his "Morning in America" campaign ads.

Here's a taste of the WSJ findings:

"Not since July 1966 has the federal government’s workforce been so small. (The spikes every decade are the hiring of several hundred thousand temporary workers to conduct the census.) Federal government hiring climbed in the 1960s, moved sideways in the 1970s, climbed to the highest level ever outside of a census in the 1980s, declined in the 1990s and then again held steady for most of the 2000s.

"Federal employment initially rose during the recession and climbed further in 2009 and 2010 with the stimulus package (and, again, the especially sharp spike for the census). The federal government has since shed about 200,000 jobs."

The facts and figures also show that it's local government -- not state government and certainly not the feds -- that has grown persistently over the years.