Government employment by president (charts)
By Will Femia

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Thu Feb 21, 2013 1:41 PM EST
The graphics in last night's Chart Imitates Life segment drew a strong response from the folks I was watching with on Twitter, so I've brought the charts here, after the jump. If you're interested in exploring the statistics yourself and are frustrated by the labyrinthine Bureau of Labor Statistics site, the charts come from Table B-1, here.[In the next blog] Scroll way down toward the bottom for the Government sector options. You're better off with the seasonally adjusted view because otherwise it's all zig-zaggy. Once you ask it to retrieve the data you'll be taken to a page that allows you to choose the date range with a check box option for showing a chart. So, for example, if you're curious what last night's charts look like all strung together (government employees since 1988)...

Just a reminder, this one is showing change in government employment during recession periods for these presidents.