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This is a misleading dataviz, I’m afraid. There are around 4 million federal personnel, of which 800k are furloughed, which means the government is running at 8

This is a misleading dataviz, I’m afraid. There are around 4 million federal personnel, of which 800k are furloughed, which means the government is running at 80%. So, at the very least, ‘Is the federal government operational?’ should be 0.8 instead of zero (aka, ‘no’). I would also expect the ‘service level’ calculator to reflect this. Update, citation from US Office of Personnel Mgmt: http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/data-analysis-documentation/federal-employment-reports/historical-tables/total-government-employment-since-1962/ http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/data-analysis-docum...

brown9-2 13y ago
Do you have a source for the 4 million number? Most reports this week have said 1.8 million total. Regardless of how many are furloughed versus working unpaid, not paying that many people will have a big economic impact the longer this goes on.
- deleted 13y ago
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dnprock 13y ago
I don't think you can use 800k/4m to say government is running at 80%. Some departments are affected more than others. Furloughs can have ripple effect. NASA, HUD, ED are the most affected according to data.
- spikels 13y ago
  But clearly most of the government continues to run because either it was declared "essential" (a rather haphazard process) or is "self-supported" by fees, like the Post Office* or Amtrak.* More detail about "essential" workers/activities: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-shutdown-essential-20131002,0,382999.story http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-shutdown-ess... *-ironically both lose money
Ankaios 13y ago
I'm not sure that civil-service headcount will give you a good indication of how much of the government is operational. At NASA, IIRC only ~ 20% of the funds go to civil servant salaries. The rest goes out the door in contracts, grants, etc. I don't know the fractions for other agencies.

brown9-2 13y ago

Do you have a source for the 4 million number? Most reports this week have said 1.8 million total. Regardless of how many are furloughed versus working unpaid, not paying that many people will have a big economic impact the longer this goes on.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

dnprock 13y ago

I don't think you can use 800k/4m to say government is running at 80%. Some departments are affected more than others. Furloughs can have ripple effect. NASA, HUD, ED are the most affected according to data.

spikels 13y ago
But clearly most of the government continues to run because either it was declared "essential" (a rather haphazard process) or is "self-supported" by fees, like the Post Office* or Amtrak.* More detail about "essential" workers/activities: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-shutdown-essential-20131002,0,382999.story http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-shutdown-ess... *-ironically both lose money

Ankaios 13y ago

I'm not sure that civil-service headcount will give you a good indication of how much of the government is operational. At NASA, IIRC only ~ 20% of the funds go to civil servant salaries. The rest goes out the door in contracts, grants, etc. I don't know the fractions for other agencies.