Where the Department's dollars actually go.
The whole Department of Labor (USAspending toptier agency 1601) as recorded in the public spending feed: obligations by fiscal year, and the largest contract awards. Most DOL money flows as Unemployment Insurance benefit payments and grants to states — the contracts table below is the procurement slice, a small fraction of total obligations. Watch the FY2020-2021 spike: that is the pandemic UI surge, the signature of a demand-driven department.
Data currency & scale
Agency budgetary resources are gross and mandatory-dominated (the Unemployment Trust Fund), so they run far above the discretionary topline. DOL publishes award detail without a DoD-style OPSEC withholding; normal USAspending reporting lag applies, so the contracts table uses the latest fully-loaded fiscal year.
Obligated (latest complete FY)
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Obligated (in progress)
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Top-15 award value
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Toptier agency
1601
Department of Labor
Obligations over time
Total agency obligations by fiscal year (UI benefit payments, grants to states, and contracts combined). The FY2020-2021 surge is the pandemic UI spike; the current fiscal year is partial.
Largest contract awards
Ranked by total obligated amount on the award. Contracts are the procurement slice only — UI benefit payments and grants to states are not shown here. For multiyear/IDIQ vehicles this accumulates across option years — a measure of award size, not single-year spend.
| Recipient | Awarding component | Description | Obligated |
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