The federal workforce appears to be immune to the country’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which has left 14 million Americans out of work.

Civilian unemployment has mushroomed, sticking above 9 percent for months, although many experts put the real figure in the 18-20 percent range. Meanwhile, the number of federal employees has grown 12 percent since the official start of the recession in December 2007, MSNBC reports, citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Office of Personnel Management also estimates that there was a 14.8 percent increase in executive branch employees — that’s about 275,000 more — between September 2007 and June of 2011. That number does not include the Central Intelligence Agency and a few other government agencies.

At the same time, payroll employment in the United States dipped by nearly 5 percent, says MSNBC, proclaiming the federal headcount recession proof.