REUTERS/ELIZABETH FRANTZ / JAN. 4

Birds fly past the U.S. Capitol dome in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON >> The ​U.S. ‌federal workforce fell to the ‌lowest level in at least a decade, according to government data published on Thursday, the ‍result of President Donald Trump’s campaign to shrink the government.

The cuts hit nearly every major federal ​agency, according to the ​statistics from the Office of Personnel Management. Several lost more than a quarter of their ‍staff, including the departments of Education, Agriculture ​and Housing and Urban Development. ⁠The Department of Homeland Security is an exception, with headcount barely fluctuating after Trump ⁠took office.

The U.S. government employs 2.1 million workers, according to the OPM statistics.

The federal government has long been seen as a stable employer, with staff commonly spending decades ⁠working inside U.S. agencies. Trump and ‍his team sought to change that at the start of his second term, ‍as he argued that ​the federal government was bloated ‍and inefficient. Thursday’s figures showed the administration’s progress on that goal.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment ​from Reuters.