Overall unemployment rate moved up to 3.9% with the biggest shift in Transportation & Utilities, which lost 16,600 roles, based on the most recently available information published in March 2022.
Total employment in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV market declined by 13,163 jobs in January and the unemployment rate increased compared to the prior month by 60 bps to 3.9%. The national unemployment rate increased by 74 bps over the same time to 4.4%.
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV unemployment rate is 53 bps below the national rate which is a positive sign.
- Unemployment in the market is 210 bps below the unemployment rate in the market last year at this time, which is a positive.
- Average wages (per hour) grew in January versus prior month by 5.6% and are up compared to last year at this time in the market.
For key employment segments of the market, total jobs declined by -2.1%. Key sectors include:
- Business Services: 779,400; -12,400
- Government: 707,700; -11,400
- Education & Healthcare: 421,700; -10,800
- Transportation & Utilities: 401,900; -16,600
- Restaurants & Hotels: 279,500; -8,600
- Other Jobs: 194,100; -1,200
- Construction, Mining: 156,900; -4,700
- Financial Services: 150,900; -3,100
- IT & Development: 77,500; -300
- Manufacturing: 54,900; -1,600
Data is based on the most recent 12 months available, through January 2022 (Data published March 2022 and reports created on March 18, 2022). Source: Government data agency and locally acquired statistics.
Note: All reported data is not seasonally adjusted.