A rapidly approaching fiscal cliff could mean the end of 277,000 federal jobs, or 14 percent of the federal work force, a study by the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University finds.

At the end of this year, tax cuts are scheduled to expire at the same time automatic cuts to government spending kick in, a combination known as a fiscal cliff that could send the country falling into a recession next year if left unchecked by Congress.

Spending cuts would total $1.2 trillion over a decade and would mean the end of 48,000 federal workers from civilian defense jobs and 229,000 from other federal jobs, including food inspectors, healthcare workers, national park employees and even air traffic control employees, the study found, according to CNNMoney.

Editor's Note: See the Disturbing Charts: 50% Unemployment, 90% Stock Market Crash, 100% Inflation

"What that means is some airports won't be able to land as many planes, because [the Federal Aviation Administration] controllers won't be in the towers," said Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis, CNNMoney added.

"[Federal Bureau of Investigation] agents won't be on the ground investigating and meat inspectors won't be inspecting."

The U.S. economy added a net 114,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent from 8.1 percent, thanks to a surge in households reporting family members taking part-time jobs.

August figures were revised up to 142,000 from 96,000, while July's figures were revised up to 181,000 jobs created from 141,000 thanks to gains in government jobs.

"There is a lot of stuff going on in this report. The headline doesn't look very inspiring but there was a big upward revision to the previous month that is mainly effecting the government sector," said Sean Incremona, an economist at 4cast Ltd., according to Reuters.

"The underlying private payrolls growth is unimpressive, lower than expected in September and soft beforehand. Oppositely there was a big decline in the unemployment rate with a pretty healthy breakdown there with employment and the labor force higher," Incremona added.

"Generally we are still seeing a mixed underlying picture that is neither too impressive nor terrible."

Editor's Note: See the Disturbing Charts: 50% Unemployment, 90% Stock Market Crash, 100% Inflation