WashingtonThe Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data Tuesday showing that Washington, D.C.’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was the highest in the country for the third consecutive month.
As a result of the widespread layoffs of government employees that President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency implemented earlier this year, D.C.’s unemployment rate hit 6% in July. The District’s rising unemployment rate is also anticipated to be impacted by a general drop in foreign tourists, which is a major source of revenue for the city.
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According to state-by-state jobless statistics, unemployment rates in neighboring states also increased in July, rising from 3.3% in Maryland to 3.4% in Virginia and from 3.5% in Virginia to 3.6% in Virginia.
Federal employees in all government agencies have been urged to voluntarily leave their jobs or have been laid off since the start of Trump’s second term. Labor unions and advocacy groups have filed lawsuits against the federal government as a result of those moves.
Despite concerns that hundreds of thousands of federal employees would lose their jobs and that vital government services would be cut, the Supreme Court in July approved the Trump administration’s plans to significantly reduce the federal workforce.
Payments to unemployed federal workers have been increasing month after month, according to the most recent data from the D.C. Office of Revenue Analysis. Unemployment benefits totaled $2.01 million for unemployed people in April. That amount rose to $2.57 million by June.
According to the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, D.C.’s Black-white unemployment rate would worsen as a result of the federal worker layoffs. The BLS reports that the current national unemployment rate is 4.2%. At 1.9%, South Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate in July.
Furthermore, a significant source of D.C. to the United States, international tourism, is on the decline. The World Travel & Tourism Council reports that some foreign nationals are choosing to travel abroad, particularly British, German, and South American tourists, after becoming enraged by Trump’s tariffs and rhetoric and concerned by reports of tourists being detained at the border.
International visitor expenditure in the United States is expected to drop to just under $169 billion this year from $181 billion in 2024, a 22.5% decrease from the previous record, according to a May analysis from the organization.
The most recent job figures follow the deployment of National Guard troops to D.C. by the Republican president and many GOP governors in an effort to increase immigration enforcement and lower crime.
According to city officials, crime in the nation’s capital is already on the decline.
