Uncle Sam: The nation's largest employer

Founded by those famous forefathers back when they ratified the Constitution, the federal government exists to provide services to the public. And today, with about 2 million employees (excluding the U.S. Postal Service), it is the nation's biggest employer.
You may recall learning in grade school that the U.S. government is broken up into three branches: legislative, judicial, and executive. As far as employment goes, the latter of these accounts for about 97% of jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The legislative branch, which includes Congress and is responsible for the legal structure of the nation, employs only 1% of federal workers, and most of these are employed in Washington, D.C.
The judicial branch accounts for about 2% of federal workers. Though they are scattered about the country more so than are the legislative workers, they work to interpret what the legislative branch has enacted. The highest-ruling group in this branch is the Supreme Court, but it also includes U.S. District Courts and Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Unlike the legislative and executive branches, whose officers are elected by the people, the members of the judicial branch are appointed by the president.
The executive branch is the largest of the three. It comprises a wide variety of services and industries, and thus employs people with all kinds of backgrounds and career pursuits. The three basic components of the executive branch are the Executive Office of the President, the 15 Cabinets, and upwards of 70 independent agencies, each with different focuses.
The Executive Office serves to advise the president on various issues. It includes the Office of Management and Budget, the National Security Council, and the Council of Economic Advisers. The 15 Cabinets are each headed by a secretary, who is a member of the President's Cabinet.
By employment size, the 15 Cabinets are as follows: Defense, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, Treasury, Justice, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Interior, Transportation, Commerce, Energy, Labor, State, Housing and Urban Development, and Education.
The independent agencies are many and varied. Some of the more well-known include the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Peace Corps. These agencies range in size, with most having fewer than 1,000 employees, though some have more.
According to BLS data collected in November 2008 , the most recent available, the largest independent agencies are: the Social Security Administration, 66,000 employees; the Environmental Protection Agency, 23,000 employees; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 22,000 employees; the General Services Administration, 16,000 employees; the Smithsonian Institution, 8,000 employees; and the Office of Personnel Management, 7,000 employees.
While the BLS reported roughly 2 million federal employees in 2008, excluding postal workers, there are certain sectors that are not included in this count because, for security purposes, they do not share these figures with the public. These groups include the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Nearly 15 percent of the 2 million employees worked in the Washington, D.C. area, and about 35,000 worked outside the country.
The outlook is projected to grow by 10 percent for the decade 2008-2018. Many openings are expected to arise due to employee retirement, but competition for these jobs is expected to be stiff. In times of a shaky economy, many workers look to federal government jobs for stability.