By Adam Pagnucco.
Part One covered the methodology of this series. Part Two covered total employment. Today, let’s look at data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on private sector employment in the D.C. region’s ten largest jurisdictions.
First, let’s look at private vs government employment in MoCo since 2001, the first year in the series. Private employment has varied with the business cycle but it has fallen from 370,125 in 2001 to 365,667 in 2024, a drop of 1.2%. Meanwhile, government employment has grown from 79,756 in 2001 to 95,187 in 2024, an increase of 19.3%. As its private sector has stagnated, MoCo is becoming increasingly dependent on government for its jobs base.
The chart below shows one-year growth of private employment in 2024 for MoCo and the other nine large jurisdictions in the region.
MoCo had just 0.3% growth in total employment last year. That’s below the region total and behind seven of our nine competitors.
The chart below shows 2024 private employment as a percentage of 2019 total employment. This measures the degree to which each jurisdiction has bounced back from the pandemic.
MoCo’s jobs base has not recovered from the pandemic and is second-to-last on this measure. Only Alexandria did worse.
Finally, the chart below shows total employment growth from 2007 (the year before the Great Recession) to 2024.
We are one of three jurisdictions to see our private sector jobs base be lower than before the Great Recession. At least we’re better than Alexandria.
And remember, folks – these numbers predate President Donald Trump’s second term. His current administration has nothing to do with them.
Our record on total employment and private employment is decidedly weak, both short term and long term. We will look at establishments next.