WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a freeze in federal hiring, excluding the military, though it’s mostly symbolic move in an era when tight budgets have already halted the growth in overall government employment.

Sean Spicer, the president’s spokesman, said in his first official news briefing with the White House media that the order would halt a “dramatic” increase in government employment.

Federal agencies stepped up hiring in the waning days of the Obama administration in anticipation of a freeze, but employment was essentially flat during President Obama’s two terms because of slow growth in government spending. Budget controls were tightened after Republicans claimed control of the House of Representatives in 2010.

The federal government employed 2.77 million civilians at the end of fiscal 2009, six months into Obama’s first term in office, according to the Office of Personnel and Management. The government employed 2.66 million workers at the end of fiscal 2014, the last year for which data is available. More up-to-date figures from the Labor Department show that civilian employment at the end of the Obama presidency was slightly below the all-time high set in 2010.

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The freeze by Trump could lead to a small reduction in federal employment if open positions are left unfilled, but it probably won’t save much money or make a noticeable dent in the size of the government’s workforce.

Exempting civilian personnel for the military, for example, could cover one-quarter or more of the entire federal workforce. As a candidate Trump also indicated he might exempt public-safety and health officials. Added to Pentagon civilians, these groups represent more than half of all federal workers.

It’s not just the federal workforce that’s been held in check. State and local employment also remain below pre-recession levels.

States employ about 5.1 million workers, down from about 5.2 million in 2008, Labor Department data show. Some 14.3 million people work for local governments, below an all-time high of 14.6 million in 2008.

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While hiring in government has waned, the private sector has created almost 16 million new jobs since 2010, according to the survey of establishments conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As a result, federal employees represent just 1.9% of all American workers vs. 2.1% when Obama entered the White House and 2.9% when Ronald Reagan left office in January 1989.

A big reason the federal workforce is smaller now is that agencies rely more on private contractors who are not designated as government employees.

The move toward contractors began years ago under Republican presidents who hoped the private sector could provide some services better than government-run agencies. The approach has been adopted by Democratic administrations, as well.

Even after studying the matter, the Congressional Budget Office said in 2015 that it could not determine how many contractors worked for the government.