Not a proud milestone

[unixronin]

It is asserted here, supported by data from Contrary Investor (subscription only, it appears), that since what looks like about 2002 the US has had more people employed in government than in manufacturing and construction combined.  From the provided chart, the current margin is about two million.

This is not a good sign at all.

Comments

[rbos.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking that this graph is a tad misleading, as the US economy, like most "first world" economies, has been moving away from manufacturing and construction, towards service and knowledge. The fact that the construction/manufacturing line has remained relatively flat over the same period of population growth kind of points to that.

I suspect that if you charted government employment as a percentage of the total employable pool, the numbers would look less stark (though still a concern).

[rbos.livejournal.com]

In fact, I think I'd be worried, if the government payroll didn't increase roughly in line with population.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, you have a point there. But this is a 90% increase in government payroll over a period in which the US population increased by slightly less than 50%. In other words, the percentage of the US population employed by the government is rising almost twice as fast as the population itself, from roughly one in every 17 American residents in 1969 to one in 13.5 today.

[rbos.livejournal.com]

I agree, that is worrying, but the numbers are nowhere near as panic-inducing when cast that way.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics.