This week’s chart previews a forthcoming report from The Alice M. Rivlin Initiative for Economic Policy and Competitiveness. Down 79,800 jobs: A risk to the District of the Columbia’s superstar status will explore D.C.’s shifting economic conditions and strains on economic growth.
This chart of the week examines the health of the District’s resident labor market.
Between January 2025 and April 2026, the number of unemployed residents grew by 5.5 percent, while the number of employed residents and those in the labor force declined by 3.2 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.[1] Over the same period, the number of unemployed individuals nationwide increased by 7.4 percent, while the number of employed individuals declined by 0.7 percent, and the national civilian labor force contracted by 0.4 percent.
Compared with the nation, weaknesses in the District’s local labor market have manifested themselves to a greater extent through declining resident employment and a shrinking labor force rather than rising unemployment. The resident unemployment rate is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed residents by the number of those in the labor force. The labor force consists of residents who are either employed or actively seeking a job. Residents who do not have a job and who are not looking for a job are considered out of the labor force. When unemployed residents exit the labor force, they are no longer counted as unemployed, reducing both the number of unemployed residents and the size of the resident labor force.
For this reason, a shrinking resident labor force tempers increases in the unemployment rate even though local labor market conditions have not improved. Given these considerations, the District’s resident unemployment rate—which was 6.2 percent in April 2026—likely does not reflect the full degree of labor market weakness.
[1] It is important to remember that employed D.C. residents may work for employers inside or outside the city itself.