District Of Columbia Unemployment Rate at 10.4% - Releases

The District of Columbia Department of Employment Services (DOES) reported today that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the District for June 2011 increased by 0.6 percent from the revised May rate of 9.8 percent, while the number of jobs increased by 3,300 in June. The June seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was 9.2 percent, up 0.1 percent from the previous month’s rate of 9.1 percent in May 2011.

At 713,300, jobs are down 1,800 or -0.3 percent from a year ago. Over the year, Professional and Business Services in the private sector registered the most job gains, while Other Services in the private sector registered the largest over-the-year job loss.

Employment Overview

Trade, Transportation, and Utilities gained 300 jobs, after a loss of 200 jobs in May. With employment at 26,500, the sector is down 1,100 jobs or -4.0 percent from a year ago.
Professional and Business Services gained 2,200 jobs, after a 1,000 job gain in May. With employment at 152,800, jobs are up 2,700 or 1.8 percent from a year ago.
Leisure and Hospitality gained 800 jobs, following a gain of 700 jobs in May. With employment at 60,400, jobs are down 900 or -1.5 percent over the year.
Financial Activities gained 600 jobs, after a gain of 300 jobs the prior month. With employment at 26,800, jobs are down 400 or -1.5 percent from a year ago.
Educational and Health Services lost 1,900 jobs, after a loss of 5,800 jobs the prior month. With employment at 105,700, jobs are up 1,200 or 1.1 percent from a year ago.
Other Services lost 200 jobs, after a loss of 400 jobs the prior month. At 63,800, employment is down 2,200 or -3.3 percent from a year ago.
Construction lost 100 jobs, after a gain of 300 jobs in May. At 10,900, employment is up 200 jobs or 1.9 percent from a year ago.
Information gained 100 jobs, after having no over-the-month job change in May. At 18,700, employment for this sector had no change from one year ago.
Manufacturing continues to have no over-the-month job change. Employment in manufacturing has remained constant. With employment at 1,200, this sector is down 100 jobs or -7.7 percent from a year ago. Manufacturing is the smallest sector in the District, accounting for less than 0.2 percent of total payroll employment.

Labor Force Overview

The District’s civilian labor force for June was 332,800, of which 298,200 were employed and 34,600 were unemployed. The unemployment rate was 10.4 percent. Over the month, the civilian labor force was down 1,800, while the total number employed decreased by 3,600 and the number of unemployed increased by 1,700, which resulted in the unemployment rate increasing by 0.6 percent from a month ago.
The District’s civilian labor force for June 2010 was 334,500, which decreased by 1,700 over the year to 332,800; meanwhile the total number of employed, which was 301,600, has decreased by 3,400 to 298,200 from a year ago; and the total number of unemployed, which was 32,900, increased by 1,700 to 34,600 for the year, which resulted in an increase of 0.6 percent from last year’s rate of 9.8 percent to the current rate of 10.4 percent.

NOTES: The July 2011 unemployment rate and survey of jobs data for the District will be released on Friday, August 19, 2011. Historical jobs and labor force estimates for the District of Columbia and detailed labor market information is available at: http://www.does.dc.gov/does/cwp/view,a,1233,q,538345,doesNav,|32064|.asp .

The unemployment rate is based on a monthly sample of households, while the job estimates are derived from a monthly sample survey of employers. As a result, the two statistics may exhibit different trends.

Data reflects 2010 annual benchmark revisions.

Wage and Salary Employment by Industry and Place of Work*

Employment Status for the Civilian Population*

Announcement: Changes to the Procedures for Producing Current Employment Statistics (CES) State Estimates

Production of March Preliminary Current Employment Statistics Data
The production of State and metropolitan area Current Employment Statistics (CES) estimates has transitioned from State Workforce Agencies to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) with the production of preliminary estimates for March 2011. Concurrent with this transition, the BLS will implement several methodological changes to standardize the estimation approach across States. While these changes will reduce the potential for statistical bias in state and metropolitan area estimates, they may increase the month-to-month variability of the estimates. More detailed information on the changes to procedures for producing CES estimates is available on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/sae/cesprocs.htm.