(Washington, DC)  The D.C. Department of Employment Services (DOES) announced today that the District of Columbia's seasonally adjusted February 2009 unemployment rate was 9.9 percent, up 0.7 percent from the revised January 2009 rate of 9.2 percent.  The February 2009 rate is 3.8 percent higher than the rate in February 2008.

The seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in February 2009 a rise of 0.5 percent from the January 2009 rate, and 3.3 percent higher than the February 2008 rate.

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

The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February 2009 was 10.1 percent; up 0.5 percent from the rate in January 2009 and 4.5 percent higher than the rate in February 2008.
 
Over the month, the District’s civilian labor force increased by 1,800 to 330,600.  A total of 297,100 residents were employed and 33,400 were unemployed in February 2009.  A 1,800 increase in the number of unemployed residents with no change in the number of employed residents resulted in a 0.5 percent increase in the not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate.
 
From February 2008 to February 2009, the District’s civilian labor force increased by 1,300 as the number of employed residents decreased by 13,800 and the number of unemployed residents increased by 15,000. The District’s February 2009 unemployment rate was 4.5 percent higher than the rate in February 2008.

The February 2009 national unemployment rate of 8.9 percent (not seasonally adjusted) was 0.4 percent higher than the rate in January 2009 and 3.7 percent higher than the rate in February 2008.

District of Columbia Job Growth

The number of District wage and salary jobs increased by 2,400 in February 2009. The private sector increased by 3,400 jobs, while the public sector decreased by 1,000 jobs. Within the private sector, job gains were experienced in education and health services (+2,100 jobs), leisure and hospitality (+700 jobs), other services (+500 jobs), professional and business services (+400 jobs), and information (+100 jobs). Job losses were noted in trade, transportation and utilities (-300 jobs) and financial activities (-100 jobs). Meanwhile, manufacturing and mining, logging and construction were unchanged over the month. In the public sector, the federal government lost 1,000 jobs; while the District Government and transportation were unchanged.

In the last twelve months, the District gained a total of 9,100 jobs. The private sector added 7,200 jobs and the public sector gained 1,900 jobs. The private sector growth occurred in educational and health services (+7,700 jobs), leisure and hospitality (+3,400 jobs), and other services (+1,200 jobs). Job losses were experienced in information (-1,400 jobs), financial activities (-1,000 jobs), professional and business services and mining, logging and construction (-800 jobs each), trade, transportation and utilities (-700 jobs), and manufacturing (-400 jobs). In the public sector, the federal government gained 2,400 jobs; the District government lost 500 jobs; while transportation was unchanged.