Total nonfarm employment for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, metropolitan area stood at 3,361,300 in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that, while employment levels in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, were little changed over the year, the rate of increase nationally was 1.9 percent. (See chart 1.) (All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year net change for total nonfarm employment in the Washington metropolitan area, March 2021–March 2024

Period	Net change (in thousands)
Mar 2021	-192.1
Apr 2021	216.7
May 2021	216.9
Jun 2021	185.9
Jul 2021	160.8
Aug 2021	130.9
Sep 2021	106.9
Oct 2021	122.8
Nov 2021	129.6
Dec 2021	137.2
Jan 2022	110.0
Feb 2022	132.0
Mar 2022	117.4
Apr 2022	114.8
May 2022	110.9
Jun 2022	88.2
Jul 2022	99.1
Aug 2022	94.1
Sep 2022	91.9
Oct 2022	65.3
Nov 2022	64.0
Dec 2022	46.3
Jan 2023	86.7
Feb 2023	70.6
Mar 2023	75.2
Apr 2023	63.7
May 2023	67.7
Jun 2023	86.1
Jul 2023	47.9
Aug 2023	45.2
Sep 2023	44.1
Oct 2023	44.4
Nov 2023	38.9
Dec 2023	51.0
Jan 2024	28.3
Feb 2024	21.0
Mar 2024	23.9

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, is made up of two metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the greater metropolitan area. The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, division, with 82 percent of the metropolitan area’s total nonfarm employment, had an employment level of 2,770,100 in March 2024. The Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD, division accounted for 18 percent of the area’s employment and had an employment level of 591,200.

In Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, little changed among the metropolitan area’s private-industry supersectors. (See chart 2). Within the education and health services supersector, the health care and social assistance sector gained 14,100 jobs, with both divisions contributing to the increase. The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, division gained 10,100 jobs, or 72 percent of the metropolitan area’s employment rise in this sector. Employment in the Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD, division increased by 4,000 jobs in the health care and social assistance sector.

  

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Chart 2. Over-the-year net change for industry supersector employment in the Washington metropolitan area, March 2024

Industry	Net change (in thousands)
Education and health services	12.2
Other services	2.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1.8
Manufacturing	1.2
Leisure and hospitality	0.6
Information	-2.2
Mining, logging, and construction	-2.5
Financial activities	-3.8
Professional and business services	-6.0
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in March 2024. Five of twelve areas gained total nonfarm payroll employment over the year. The largest job gain occurred in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (+118,700). Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ, had the smallest employment increase (+53,600) among the areas with significant changes. (See table 2 and chart 3.)

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, had a 2.3-percent rate of job gain, followed closely by Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ (+2.2 percent), and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX (+2.0 percent). Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, and New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, reported job gains of 1.5 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

  

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Chart 3. Over-the-year net change in total nonfarm employment for the 12 largest metropolitan areas, March 2024 (in thousands)

Area	Net change (in thousands)
New York*	118.7
Houston*	67.8
Miami*	66.5
Dallas*	64.2
Phoenix*	53.6
Los Angeles	50.3
Philadelphia	31.5
Atlanta	30.1
Washington	23.9
Boston	8.2
Chicago	4.5
San Francisco	2.8
Note: An asterisk indicates statistical significance at the 90-percent confidence level. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for April 2024 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the CES program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor between State employment security agencies and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. More information about the CES data is available in the State Employment and Unemployment Summary and the Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary.

Definitions. Employment data refer to persons on establishment payrolls who receive pay for any part of the pay period which includes the 12th of the month. Persons are counted at their place of work rather than at their place of residence; those appearing on more than one payroll are counted on each payroll. Industries are classified on the basis of their principal activity in accordance with the 2022 version of the North American Industry Classification System.

Method of estimation. CES State and Area employment data are produced using several estimation procedures. Where possible these data are produced using a "weighted link relative" estimation technique in which a ratio of current-month weighted employment to that of the previous-month weighted employment is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are then obtained by multiplying these ratios by the previous month's employment estimates. The weighted link relative technique is utilized for data series where the sample size meets certain statistical criteria. For some employment series, the estimates are produced with a model that uses direct sample estimates (described above) combined with other regressors to compensate for smaller sample sizes.

Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, derived principally from tax reports which are submitted by employers who are covered under state unemployment insurance (UI) laws. The benchmark information is used to adjust the monthly estimates between the new benchmark and the preceding one and also to establish the level of employment for the new benchmark month. Thus, the benchmarking process establishes the level of employment, and the sample is used to measure the month-to-month changes in the level for the subsequent months. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available in the CES State and Area benchmark article.

Reliability of the estimates. The estimates presented in this release are based on sample surveys, administrative data, and modeling and, thus, are subject to sampling and other types of errors. Sampling error is a measure of sampling variability—that is, variation that occurs by chance because a sample rather than the entire population is surveyed. Survey data also are subject to nonsampling errors, such as those which can be introduced into the data collection and processing operations. Estimates not directly derived from sample surveys are subject to additional errors resulting from the specific estimation processes used. The sums of individual items may not always equal totals shown in the same tables due to rounding.

Employment estimates. Changes in metropolitan area nonfarm payroll employment are cited in the analysis of this release only if they have been determined to be statistically significant at the 90-percent confidence level. Reliability of state and area estimates for the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this news release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on April 10, 2018. The 12 metropolitan areas discussed in this release are the metropolitan areas with the largest population according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area includes the District of Columbia; Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties, and Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities in Virginia; Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland; and Jefferson County in West Virginia.

• The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division includes the District of Columbia; Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties, and Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities in Virginia; Calvert, Charles, and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland; and Jefferson County in West Virginia.
• The Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD Metropolitan Division includes Frederick and Montgomery Counties in Maryland.

Table 1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, Washington metropolitan area and its components, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)

Area	Back data	Mar 2023	Jan 2024	Feb 2024	Mar 2024(p)	Mar 2023 to Mar 2024(p)
						Net change	Percent change
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total nonfarm		3,337.4	3,338.4	3,348.8	3,361.3	23.9	0.7
Mining, logging, and construction		162.8	160.2	157.9	160.3	-2.5	-1.5
Manufacturing		56.7	57.1	57.3	57.9	1.2	2.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities		398.8	405.7	401.6	400.6	1.8	0.5
Information		81.8	78.3	79.0	79.6	-2.2	-2.7
Financial activities		154.6	150.4	150.3	150.8	-3.8	-2.5
Professional and business services		810.9	802.9	803.6	804.9	-6.0	-0.7
Education and health services		452.5	461.2	465.6	464.7	12.2	2.7
Leisure and hospitality		310.3	304.4	306.1	310.9	0.6	0.2
Other services		192.0	193.3	193.2	194.3	2.3	1.2
Government		717.0	724.9	734.2	737.3	20.3	2.8
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division
Total nonfarm		2,745.3	2,751.2	2,758.8	2,770.1	24.8	0.9
Mining, logging, and construction		131.1	130.0	128.0	130.3	-0.8	-0.6
Manufacturing		36.5	36.8	36.9	37.5	1.0	2.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities		323.3	329.5	326.3	325.7	2.4	0.7
Information		69.2	66.7	67.3	67.9	-1.3	-1.9
Financial activities		118.9	115.8	115.6	115.9	-3.0	-2.5
Professional and business services		677.1	671.5	671.6	673.0	-4.1	-0.6
Education and health services		356.9	363.4	365.9	365.0	8.1	2.3
Leisure and hospitality		260.2	256.2	257.7	261.5	1.3	0.5
Other services		169.1	170.8	170.7	171.5	2.4	1.4
Government		603.0	610.5	618.8	621.8	18.8	3.1
Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD Metropolitan Division
Total nonfarm		592.1	587.2	590.0	591.2	-0.9	-0.2
Mining, logging, and construction		31.7	30.2	29.9	30.0	-1.7	-5.4
Manufacturing		20.2	20.3	20.4	20.4	0.2	1.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities		75.5	76.2	75.3	74.9	-0.6	-0.8
Information		12.6	11.6	11.7	11.7	-0.9	-7.1
Financial activities		35.7	34.6	34.7	34.9	-0.8	-2.2
Professional and business services		133.8	131.4	132.0	131.9	-1.9	-1.4
Education and health services		95.6	97.8	99.7	99.7	4.1	4.3
Leisure and hospitality		50.1	48.2	48.4	49.4	-0.7	-1.4
Other services		22.9	22.5	22.5	22.8	-0.1	-0.4
Government		114.0	114.4	115.4	115.5	1.5	1.3
Footnotes (p) Preliminary
SOURCE: Current Employment Statistics - National - State and Metropolitan Area