Employment up in the nation, down in the District of Columbia, December 2024 to December 2025

In December 2025, national employment increased by 0.3 percent over the year (+454,268 jobs), while employment in the District of Columbia decreased by 4.5 percent (−34,452 jobs).

Though the largest employment decrease in the District of Columbia was in the federal government, the private sector also sustained large losses. From December 2024 to December 2025, employment in the federal government decreased by 10.8 percent (−20,806 jobs), while private sector employment decreased by 2.5 percent (−13,274 jobs).

Within the private sector, some professional and business services industries, such as administrative management and general management consulting services (−11.2 percent) and computer systems design services (−10.2 percent), had decreases that were among the largest over the year. Other private sector industries, such as other social advocacy organizations (−11.7 percent) and full-service restaurants (−6.3 percent) also experienced some of the largest employment declines in the District of Columbia over this period. 

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program and are unadjusted and final. For the latest preliminary adjusted data, see “County Employment and Wages — First Quarter 2026.” You can also find more employment data for the nation, states, counties, and metropolitan areas through our data viewer tool.