The Census Bureau is seeking to fill thousands of jobs in the coming months, and that led some analysts to expect a jump in federal government hiring in May.

Grant Thornton economist Diane Swonk expected 90,000 additional hires. That doesn't appear to have occurred. On net, the federal government added 4,000 employees in May. That's consistent with the pace of hiring the past two years.

The partial government shutdown earlier this year may have delayed some hiring, but it's also possible the census doesn't need as many temporary employees as in the past. Last year, Census officials said technology, such as satellite imagery, could greatly cut the number of humans need to do the job.

Across all government employment, including state and local, jobs declined by 15,000.