Employment, in thousands:

Category 2000 2006 2012 Private sector employment 111,101 114,155 111,820 Government employment 20,790 21,975 21,915

Source: FRED graph, establishment survey. Private sector employment increased less than 1 percent from 2000 to 2012, while government employment (Federal, state, and local) increased more than 5 percent.

Spending, millions of dollars:

Category 2006 Q4 2012 Q4 Total GDP 13584.2 15851.2 Government Expenditures 4325.9 5704.9

Source: FRED graph, national income accounts. Government spending (again, including state and local government) is up 32 percent since 2006.

In my view, these facts can provide some perspective on the issue of spending cuts and austerity. Draw your own conclusions.

As an aside, two documents that usually come out in February were not available when this was written (on March 6th, scheduled for posting March 8th). One is the President’s Budget. The other is the Economic Report of the President. I wonder if they are being planned for release at “news graveyard” time, which is late afternoon on a Friday.