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The government shutdown was big business for dating sites

You can’t furlough love.

Photo of Sarah Weber

Sarah Weber

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If you’ve ever been single around the holidays, you know it’s lame. The combination of time off from work, social outings with happy couples, and all that mistletoe hanging around sparks a special kind of yearning that drives us to online dating sites and singles apps. 

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But a look back at dating site traffic for 2013 reveals another, more unexpected spike in singles perusing the market:  The government shutdown. 

It seems that while Congress was battling a raging case of crazy in mid-October, furloughed government workers were spending their sudden free time searching for a special person who’d bring joy, romance and piña coladas to their lives. (Or, at least, someone who’d be game for the occasional hook up, I suppose).

With 800,000 federal employees temporarily off work, Marketwatch reports that the dating site Zoosk had a near 100 percent increase in the number of people playing the “Carousel” game, which lets singles choose from randomly displayed profiles. By the second week of the shutdown, Washington D.C.-based Zoosk members viewed almost 50 percent more profiles than normal. 

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While those furloughed workers eventually got their checks for back pay, it’s hard to say how many cashed in on love during the shutdown. But, it’s a pretty safe guess that Washington D.C. hospitals will see a surge in government shutdown babies come July. 

H/T Marketwatch | Photo by David Joyce/Flickr

 
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