U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

EMPLOYMENT AND TRENDS OF FEDERAL CIVILIAN WORKFORCE STATISTICS March 2008

This section contains recent data "as of" the date shown on the publication cover. Selected tables also contain data for the previous month. EMPLOYMENT AND TRENDS is available on a bi monthly basis; however, data not contained in the report will be furnished upon request. To request data, cite the table number(s) needed and send requests in writing to: U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Theodore Roosevelt Building (Room 7439), 1900 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20415-6000.

The personnel summaries in Tables 1 and 17 present highlights of the information in Tables 2-16 and 18-31. Table 2 compares the current and previous month's Federal civilian employ-ment by branch, agency, and area. Tables 3-6 and 16 include 13 month trends for employment, payrolls, Executive Branch employment by work schedule, and turnover.

Employment figures reflect an on-board "head count" of the workforce at the end of the report period. Monthly payroll varies from 20 to 30 workdays depending upon the report cycle. This includes all salary and wages paid to all employees working during the month regardless of whether or not they were on board at the end of the month.

Due to the lag in reporting of transfers and variations in agency reporting periods, the net difference in turnovers (accessions and separa-tions) may not necessarily balance with net monthly changes in employment. For example, a former agency does not prepare a separation personnel action for an employee who transfers to another agency until an accession notice is received from the new agency.

Where figures are expressed in thousands, each is rounded independently and not forced to add to rounded totals. All figures are subject to revision. Several tables present employment data for the Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The Washington, DC-Maryland-Virginia-West Virginia MSA includes the District of Columbia; Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford, and Clarke, Culpeper, Fauquier, King George, Spotsylvania, and Warren Counties; and the Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, Manassas Park, and Fredericksburg in Virginia; Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince Georges Counties in Maryland; and Berkeley and Jefferson Counties in West Virginia.

SPECIAL NOTE TO READERS REGARDING EXECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYMENT CONTROLS

The employment data contained in this report represent on board "head count" strength which differs from full time equivalent employment (FTE) figures primarily used by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to manage an agency's personnel ceilings. Beginning in Fiscal Year 1982, the full time equivalent resource management system replaced the Executive Branch numerical end of year personnel ceilings that had been used to control the size of the Federal workforce for many years. Under the FTE system, workforce estimates assigned to agencies are based on the number of work years required to achieve agency missions and objec-tives. (One work year is equivalent to 2,080 hours of work which could mean, for example, one employee on a full time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks, or two part time employees for 20 hours per week each for the same period.) The work year estimate assigned is based on the maximum cumulative number of hours that can be worked by all employees covered by employment controls, including full time, part time, and intermittent employees. Work years or FTE are not defined as employee "head counts" and should not be confused with employment levels and trends. OMB assigns and controls the work year estimates. None of the data presented in this Section reflects work years or FTE.

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