Overall unemployment rate moved up to 6.0% with the biggest shift in Transportation & Utilities, which lost 12,700 roles, based on the most recently available information published in March 2021.
Total employment in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV market declined by 69,899 jobs in January and the unemployment rate increased compared to the prior month by 40 bps to 6.0%. The national unemployment rate increased by 31 bps over the same time to 6.8%.
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV unemployment rate is 81 bps below the national rate which is a positive sign.
- Unemployment in the market is 290 bps above the unemployment rate in the market last year at this time, which is a negative.
- Average wages (per hour) grew in January versus prior month by 6.2% and are up compared to last year at this time in the market.
For key employment segments of the market, total jobs declined by -1.6%. Key sectors include:
- Business Services: 758,900; -11,600
- Government: 696,000; -8,700
- Education & Healthcare: 418,900; -4,100
- Transportation & Utilities: 392,300; -12,700
- Restaurants & Hotels: 221,200; -8,500
- Other Jobs: 188,700; -900
- Construction, Mining: 158,500; -4,000
- Financial Services: 152,500; -900
- IT & Development: 72,900; +500
- Manufacturing: 53,500; -1,300
Data is based on the most recent 12 months available, through January 2021 (Data published March 2021 and reports created on March 25, 2021). Source: Government data agency and locally acquired statistics.
Note: All reported data is not seasonally adjusted.