Arlington’s jobless rate dropped to 2.8% in May, with the number of residents counted as jobless standing at its lowest rate since March 2025 despite the impact of federal budget cuts rippling through the local economy.
A total of 146,499 county residents were recorded in the civilian workforce during the month, with 4,290 seeking jobs, according to data reported July 1 by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.
The 2.8% jobless rate in the county was down from 2.9% a year before.
While fewer county residents were counted as unemployed, the number of those in the county’s overall labor force — with or without jobs — was the lowest since December 2022, and May also marked the ninth consecutive month Arlington’s civilian employment total stood below 150,000.
That drop could have a number of causes, including retirements, people moving out of the area, working remotely for employers outside this region, and those who transitioned from payroll to freelance jobs.
In neighboring Falls Church, May’s jobless rate of 3.3%, unchanged from a year before, represented 7,920 residents in the civilian workforce and 273 looking for jobs.
It was the second consecutive month Falls Church recorded fewer than 300 people seeking work, after eight months about that figure.
Northern Virginia’s unemployment rate of 3.3% for the month was up from 3% a year before, representing 1,671,290 in the workforce and 57,480 seeking jobs.
In Virginia, the jobless rate of 3.6% was up from 3.3% a year before, representing 4,324,554 with civilian jobs and 195,363 in search of work.
In May, Virginia’s private-sector workforce declined by 8,300 while government employment was up 300, according to state officials. The increase was due entirely to hiring by local governments, as employment with the state and federal governments was down.
The commonwealth’s labor force participation rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 63.3% in May. That rate measures the proportion of the civilian population age 16 and older employed or actively looking for work.
Nationally, year-over-year unemployment rates were lower in May in 191 of 387 metropolitan areas, higher in 164 and unchanged in 32, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A total of 47 areas had jobless rates of less than 3%, with seven areas reporting rates above 8%.
May’s national unemployment rate was 4.1%, little changed from a year before.
Among all metro areas, Bismarck (N.D.) and Sioux Falls (S.D.) had the lowest jobless rates, at 1.8% each. The highest rate was reported in El Centro, Calif., at 16.9%.
Of the 56 metro areas with populations of a million or more, Honolulu had the lowest rate at 2.4%, with Fresno reporting the highest at 7.4%.
In terms of nonfarm employment, the D.C. region had the largest year-over-year numerical drop at 100,500 or 3%, according to federal data.
Figures are non seasonally adjusted. All May 2026 data is preliminary and subject to revision.
