(Washington, DC)  The District of Columbia's seasonally adjusted January 2009 unemployment rate was 9.3 percent, according to data released today by the DC Department of Employment Services (DOES). The agency announced an unemployment rate of 8.8 percent in December 2008.

The increase in unemployment in the District continues to reflect the national trend: the US rate was 7.6 percent in January 2009, up from 7.2 percent in December 2008.

10,800 jobs were added in the District in 2008, according to the most recent employment data. For January 2009, most sectors posted job losses while the DC Health Care field added 2,000 jobs.

District of Columbia’s Civilian Labor Force, Employment and Unemployment 

The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January 2009 was 9.7 percent; up 0.8 percent from the rate in December 2008 and 3.3 percent higher than the rate in January 2008.
 
Over the month, the District’s civilian labor force increased by 200 to 329,000.  A total of 297,100 residents were employed and 31,900 were unemployed in January 2009.  A 2,500 decrease in the number of employed residents along with a 2,800 increase in the number of unemployed residents resulted in a 0.8 percent increase in the not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate.
 
From January 2008 to January 2009, the District’s civilian labor force increased by 100 as the number of employed residents decreased by 10,800 and the number of unemployed residents increased by 10,900.

The January 2009 national unemployment rate of 8.5 percent (not seasonally adjusted) was 1.4 percent higher than the rate in December 2008 and 3.1 percent higher than the rate in January 2008.

The benchmarked unemployment rate for December 2008 was reduced from the originally reported 8.8 percent to 8.2 percent. Benchmarking is the annual process the Bureau of Labor Statistics undertakes to realign the previous years’ national CES survey results, which are sample based estimates, with the actual unemployment insurance reports in order to find a more accurate count of job gains and losses.

District of Columbia Job Growth

The number of District wage and salary jobs decreased by 7,900 in January 2009. The private sector decreased by 7,300 jobs, while the public sector decreased by 600 jobs.

The declines came in all super-sectors; however the Health Care field posted gains of 2,000 new jobs.

In the private sector, declines included other services (-1,700 jobs), professional and business services (-1,400 jobs), trade, transportation and utilities (-1,200 jobs), financial activities (-800 jobs), leisure and hospitality (-700 jobs), information (-600 jobs), educational and health services (-500 jobs), mining, lodging, and construction (-300 jobs), and manufacturing (-100 jobs). In the public sector, the federal government lost 600 jobs; while the local government and transportation sector was unchanged.

In the last twelve months, the District gained a total of 10,800 jobs. The private sector added 8,500 jobs and the public sector gained 2,300 jobs. The private sector growth occurred in educational and health services (7,100 jobs), leisure and hospitality (4,100 jobs), other services (1,300 jobs). Losses were noted in information (-1,500 jobs), financial activities (-900 jobs), mining, lodging and construction (-600 jobs), manufacturing (-400 jobs), and trade, transportation and utilities, and professional and business services (-300 jobs each). In the public sector, the federal government increased by 3000 jobs; the District government lost 700 jobs; while transportation was unchanged.