WASHINGTON — The seasonably adjusted unemployment rate in Washington, D.C., was the highest in the nation for the third straight month, according to new data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
D.C.’s jobless rate reached 6% in July, a reflection of the mass layoffs of federal workers, ushered in by President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, earlier this year. An overall decline in international tourism — which is a main driver of D.C.’s income — is also expected to have an impact on the climbing unemployment rate in the District.
Neighboring states also saw an uptick in unemployment rates in July — with Maryland at 3.4% (up from 3.3%) and Virginia at 3.6% (up from 3.5%), according to the state-by-state jobless figures.
Since the beginning of Trump’s second term, federal workers across government agencies have been either laid off or asked to voluntarily resign from their positions. Those actions have drawn litigation across the federal government by labor unions and advocacy groups.
In July, the Supreme Court cleared the way for Trump administration plans to downsize the federal workforce further, despite warnings that critical government services will be lost and hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be out of their jobs.
The latest D.C. Office of Revenue Analysis figures show that payments made to unemployed federal workers have been climbing month-over-month. In April, unemployed workers received $2.01 million in unemployment payments. By June, that figure reached $2.57 million.
The DC Fiscal Policy Institute argues that the federal worker layoffs will exacerbate D.C.’s Black-white unemployment ratio. The latest nationwide unemployment rate according to the BLS is 4.2% — South Dakota had the lowest jobless rate in July at 1.9%.
In addition, international tourism, a major source of D.C., to the U.S. is declining. Angered by Trump’s tariffs and rhetoric, and alarmed by reports of tourists being arrested at the border, some citizens of other countries are staying away from the U.S. and choosing to travel elsewhere — notably British, German and South American tourists, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
A May report from the organization states that international visitor spending to the U.S. is projected to fall to just under $169 billion this year, down from $181 billion in 2024 — which is a 22.5% decline compared to the previous peak.
The latest jobs numbers come after the Republican president and a group of GOP governors have deployed National Guard troops to D.C. in the hopes of reducing crime and boosting immigration enforcement.
City officials say crime is already falling in the nation’s capital.