(Washington, DC) - Today, Department of Employment Services (DOES) announced that the District of Columbia's seasonally adjusted March 2009 unemployment rate was 9.8 percent, down 0.1 percent from the February 2009 rate.  The March 2009 rate was 3.6 percent higher than the rate in March 2008.

The seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was 8.5 percent in March 2009 a rise of 0.4 percent from the February 2009 rate, and 3.4 percent higher than the March 2008 rate.

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

The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March 2009 was 9.5 percent; down 0.6 percent from the rate in February 2009 and 3.3 percent higher than the rate in March 2008.
 
Over the month, the District’s civilian labor force decreased by 4,400 to 326,000.  A total of 295,100 residents were employed and 30,900 were unemployed in March 2009.  A 2,000 decrease in the number of employed residents along with a 2,400 decrease in the number of unemployed residents resulted in a 0.6 percent decrease in the not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate.
 
From March 2008 to March 2009, the District’s civilian labor force decreased by 6,700 as the number of employed residents decreased by 16,900 and the number of unemployed residents increased by 10,300. The District’s March 2009 unemployment rate was 3.3 percent higher than the rate in March 2008.

The March 2009 national unemployment rate of 9.0 percent (not seasonally adjusted) was 0.1 percent higher than the rate in February 2009 and 3.8 percent higher than the rate in March 2008.

District of Columbia Job Growth

The number of District wage and salary jobs increased by 1,100 in March 2009. The private sector increased by 1,200 jobs, while the public sector decreased by 100 jobs. Within the private sector, job gains were experienced in education and health services (+800 jobs), other services (+600 jobs), trade, transportation and utilities (+200 jobs), and mining, logging and construction and leisure and hospitality (+100 jobs). Job losses were noted in professional and business services (-600 jobs). Meanwhile, manufacturing, financial activities, and information were unchanged over the month. In the public sector, the federal government lost 100 jobs; while the District Government and transportation were unchanged.

In the last twelve months, the District gained a total of 4,800 jobs. The private sector added 3,400 jobs and the public sector gained 1,400 jobs. The private sector growth occurred in educational and health services (+7,600 jobs), leisure and hospitality (+1,900 jobs), and other services (+700 jobs). Job losses were experienced in professional and business services (-2,500), information (-1,600 jobs), financial activities (-1,100 jobs), mining, logging and construction (-700 jobs), trade, transportation and utilities (-500 jobs), and manufacturing (-400 jobs). In the public sector, the federal government gained 2,000 jobs; the District government lost 600 jobs; while transportation was unchanged.