Results tagged “jobmarket”

The August unemployment numbers for the District are out, courtesy the Department of Employment Services, and the news is rather dreary. After dropping slightly in July to 10.6 percent (down from 10.9 percent in June), D.C.'s unemployment rate for August was a whopping 11.1 percent, the worst number the city has seen since the recession began. The jump corresponds to an increase in jobless figures nationwide. The August national unemployment rate was 9.7 percent, compared to 9.4 percent in July. Maryland’s unemployment rate was 7.2 percent in August, unchanged from July, while Virginia posted a solid 6.5 percent rate, actually down from 6.9 percent.

The D.C. Mayor's Office put out the latest Department of Employment Services numbers today, and the unemployment rate in the District of Columbia decreased to 10.6 percent in July, compared to June's 10.9 percent unemployment rate. The figures are still well above the national unemployment rate for the same month, which was 9.4 percent, down slightly from 9.5 percent in June. Unemployment is a mixed bag in the larger region: Maryland's unemployment rate was 7.3 percent in July, up from 7.2 percent in June, while Virginia posted a 6.9 percent rate, down from 7.1 percent.

The unemployment news just doesn't seem to be getting better inside the District of Columbia. Monthly Department of Employment Services numbers are out once again today, and they report that the June unemployment rate was 10.9 percent, up 0.2 percent from the previous month. The District's unemployment numbers have been climbing since December, holding slightly steadier at just below 10 percent for several months before finally surpassing the figure in May. The news comes on the same day that Mayor Fenty has proposed eliminating 250 more city government jobs as part of his latest budget proposal, in addition to the roughly 1,600 he's already cut. DOES says there were 35,900 unemployed District residents in June.

The Department of Employment Services released the latest jobs figures this morning, and despite last month's modest improvement, things are once again looking worse. The April unemployment rate for the District of Columbia was 9.9 percent, up 0.2 percent from the March 2009 rate and the exact same as the February 2009 rate. The figure also shows a 3.5 percent increase in the number of unemployed D.C. workers over the same month last year. Nationally, the unemployment rate for April was 8.9 percent, an increase of 0.4 percent from the March 2009 rate. Back in December, D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi predicted the District's unemployment rate would reach 10 percent by 2010.

Hey, great news for those of you who have found yourselves un- or underemployed in this rough economy ... thousands of recent college graduates are moving to Washington to compete with you for jobs and housing! And they're willing to work for nothing and overpay to live in rooms the size of closets! Hooray! We kid (a little, anyway), naturally. Of course we want to welcome these youngsters and encourage the continued growth of our city. Besides, as the Examiner notes in its article: "the market was significantly better for those with at least a couple of years of experience, or a master’s degree." So suck it, graduates!