Amidst the turmoil in the economy over the last few years, many have viewed D.C. as one of the lone economic engines in the country. But new employment numbers suggest that could be changing.
Some say the latest numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics are cause for concern. The unemployment rate increased in the D.C. region from 5.7 percent to 6.2 percent between May and June. In D.C. alone, that unadjusted unemployment percentage went from 10.2 to 11.9 percent.
(For the District, the seasonally adjusted employment rate for June was 10.4 percent, up from a seasonally adjusted rate in May of 9.8 percent.)
This news comes just as the Obama administration released somewhat contrasting nationwide job numbers, which showed that the U.S. as a whole actually enjoyed higher-than-expected job growth in July, adding 117,000 jobs. Unemployment nationally fell to 9.1 percent from the previous 9.2 percent.
Experts also say there are concerns down the road about the number of available federal government jobs because the recent growth is slowing down, and people have been concerned about hiring due to the recent crisis over the federal budget.
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