Jobseekers: Uncle Sam Wants You

As companies lop off jobs in the wake of a sinking economy, desperate job seekers can find opportunity in one unlikely source: the government.

Though working in the public sector can seem to be the ninth level of career hell - less pay to do monotonous tasks - the public sector has at least 100,000 online job listings, reports to Challenger, Gray & Christmas today.

Government job openings could grow to 555,000 jobs over the next few years as "droves of aging workers reach retirement age," Challenger Gray adds.

This could be a boon for job seekers in our post-apocalyptic time of Wall Street shakeouts, law firm layoffs, and mainstream media meltdown, in which labor demand in the private sector looks pretty dismal.

Just today, for example, the Conference Board said there were 579,000 fewer online job listings in May 2008 compared with the same month a year earlier. It was the third consecutive month of year-over-year nationwide declines.

"For the first time since the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the public sector is significantly expanding its employment opportunities," Challenger Gray C.E.O. John A. Challenger said. "It could not come at a better time for job seekers, who often overlook government agencies as a potential employer."

Though the public sector has been acting as a buffer against loss of jobs, the outlook may not be so good, cautions Brian Bethune, an economist at Global Insight, especially in the state and local sector.

"Some of the states are going to be hit hard by reductions in taxes from real estate," said Bethune, which will lead to budget deficits and slower job growth.

Hopefully, other sectors of the economy will bounce back before that happens.

by Jennifer Lai