Gallup's Job Creation Index for the federal government dropped to -17 in July, from -5 in June and -10 in July of 2012.

The Index, based on a poll of workers in the sector, measures what percentage of them reported that their employer is expanding staff minus what percentage of them reported that their employer is shedding staff.

In July, 42 percent of federal government workers said their employer is cutting workers, while 25 percent said their employer is adding workers.

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The sequester may account for the reported drop in government hiring, writes Gallup's Lydia Saad.

"Although these automatic spending cuts went into effect in early March, likely resulting in a heightened perception among federal workers in that same month that hiring was down, it is possible that the pace of furloughs and layoffs increased in July as federal agencies moved to implement the staffing component of budget cuts."

Meanwhile, the Job Creation Index for the economy as a whole stood at +21 in July, little changed from +22 in June and up from +17 a year earlier.

In the private sector, the Job Creation Index registered +24 in July, compared with +25 in June and +22 a year earlier.

The government reported last week that the economy as a whole added 162,000 jobs last month, the smallest increase in four months.

Julia Coronado, chief economist for North America at BNP Paribas, tells Bloomberg that the jobs number wasn't "a disaster of a report, but it shows the U.S. remains vulnerable to a slower economic-growth performance."

"This isn't the kind of progress the Fed would like to see. At the margin, it keeps them cautious."

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