More U.S. federal government workers said their employer was letting people go rather than taking on new hires, a Gallup poll released Wednesday found.

Federal government workers in March were much more likely to report that their employer was letting workers go and reducing the size of its workforce (41 percent) than hiring workers and expanding the size of its workforce (23 percent), Gallup found.

The result has been a -18 Job Creation Index score among the group.

"This is down significantly since the budget sequester went into effect on March 1, dropping from -5 in February," said the report.

Indeed, the report comes on the heels of the spate of cuts in spending increases that some experts warned would have a negative impact on the federal labor force.

Gallup's job creation index among federal government workers has been in negative territory since June 2011, with the March score among the lowest recorded since Gallup began publishing the figure in August 2008, the polling company said.

Meanwhile, reports of hiring activity in the private sector remain positive, with an index score of +20. Among all U.S. workers, the index is +17, given that the vast majority of U.S. workers are not employed by the federal government.

"Nongovernment workers report much more robust hiring activity, and because federal government workers account for a small percentage of all U.S. workers, the national jobs situation still appears to be relatively strong," the poll said.

Federal government workers reported a significantly worse hiring situation at their places of employment in the initial month of the federal budget sequester. "The sharp drop in the job creation index among federal government workers means that an already weak employment situation for federal workers has gotten worse," Gallup said.

While the future direction of U.S. job creation will be tied to non-government hiring, continued sluggish federal government hiring could hold back U.S. job growth overall, Gallup said.

"Even if Congress and the president agree on legislation to override the sequester, it is likely that any new budgets passed in the near term will attempt to limit government spending, which in turn means that federal government hiring could remain slow for quite some time," Gallup contended. Endi