I just multiplied the average bonus increase by the number of employees and reached almost the exact amount of the total increase. This tells us that formal employment in 2015 was almost identical (actually a tad up) to 2014. True, unemployment could have simultaneously increased in 2015, either because the labor pool expanded or the kinds of jobs lost were more likely to be included in the unemployment count, but in the main we see no change in employment/unemployment from 2014 to 2015.

I also calculated (well, this time estimated), based upon the numbers provided, that the average Christmas bonus in the private sector is $790, or as Tim notes, about half that of the public sector.

It doesn’t of course follow that public sector employees earn on the average twice as much as their private sector equivalents. I would guess that turnover, part-time, and seasonal employment are all more common in the private sector, and these factors all bring down the average bonus. It’s also surely the case that public sector employees on the average have more specialized job qualifications as well as more experience than private sector employees. The government after all isn’t hiring as many store clerks, dishwashers, and maids as is the private sector. Even so, on an anual basis, public sector employees are earning twice as much as those in the private sector.