There are 2,748,978 civilian federal employees in the United States as of January 2009. “
This is PRE Obama.
And consider how many other people are employed by vendors or contractors. Equipment sales to gov't, consulting to the gov't, etc. Gov't buys everything from candy bars to computers. World's biggest single customer. The following numbers are also a few years old, pre-Obama.
The World's Biggest Customer
(excerpt, more at link)
"The federal government is the world's biggest customer; currently spending nearly $ 400 billion a year.
Companies outside the market often have the misconception that the federal market exists only within the boundaries of the Capitol's Beltway. In fact, the Washington market includes the District of Columbia and the states of Maryland and Virginia. Although the actual Beltway is centered in the Washington, DC area, the federal government's buying power extends across the United States and even worldwide because of overseas military bases and federal facilities. "