(CNSNews.com) - Government employment in the United States increased by 47,000 in March, climbing from 22,510,000 to 22,557,000, according to the data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Government employment hit its all-time high in May 2010, a Census year, when it was 22,996,000. (Historically, government employment has tended to hit new records in years when the federal government is carrying out the decennial Census and hires people for that purpose.)

The March 2023 government employment of 22,557,000--up from 22,510,000 in February--is the highest it has been since the 2020.

“Government employment increased by 47,000 in March, the same as the average monthly gain over the prior 6 months,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its employment situation press release today. “Overall, employment in government is below its February 2020 level by 314,000, or 1.4 percent.”

In March, the federal government employed 2,903,000, an increase of 8,000 from the 2,895,000 it employed in February. The 2,903,570,000 the federal government employed this March was the most it has employed since October 2020, when it employed 2,978,000. (Federal employment peaked at 3,158,000 in August of 2020.)

State governments employed 5,184,000 in March, an increase of 13,000 from the 5,171,000 they employed in February. State government employment peaked at 5,317,000 in February 2020.

Local governments employed 14,470,000 in March, an increase of 26,000 from the 14,444,000 that local governments employed in February. Local government employment peaked at 14,699,000 in February and March of 2020.