Arlington’s civilian workforce continued to shrink in August, with the county posting its lowest employment figures in over four years.
The 145,818 Arlington residents counted as employed in August was the lowest number since 144,681 in February 2022, when the region and nation were still contending with the economic impacts of the pandemic.
At the same time, unemployment in Arlington is also down. The county’s August unemployment rate of 2.8% was down from 3.1% year before, according to figures released Sept. 30 by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.
Over the past year, the county’s jobless rate has ranged between 2.9% and 3.4%, significantly higher than the period when cuts to the federal workforce began rippling through the local economy in early 2025.
Regional economic leaders have voiced concerns about the double-whammy of the pandemic and Trump-era cuts impacting the workforce across the area. Added to the mix is the high cost of local living, fueled by housing costs, which have caused some local residents to move out of the region for more affordable localities.
In neighboring Falls Church, August’s unemployment rate of 3.3% was down from 4% a year ago.
The August 2026 rate represented 7,862 city residents with jobs and 268 seeking them. The employment total was the city’s lowest since 7,846 in September 2022, according to state data.
Across Northern Virginia, August brought a jobless rate of 3.3%, with just under 1.69 million employed in the civilian workforce and about 57,300 seeking jobs. A year before, in August 2025, the figures stood at 1.73 million employed, 60,300 seeking jobs and a resulting unemployment rate of 3.4%.
In Northern Virginia, the unemployment rate has hovered between 3.2% and 3.7% over the past year. Until February 2025, the area’s jobless rate had been below 3% for 40 of 41 consecutive months.
Across the D.C. metropolitan area, the August jobless rate of 3.8% was down from 4.2% a year before, with 3.44 million employed in the civilian workforce and about 131,000 seeking work.
The D.C. region was among 234 of the nation’s 387 metropolitan corridors to have a lower year-over-year jobless rate. Rates were higher in 126 areas and unchanged in 27, according to figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics released Sept. 30.
Among all metro areas, Cleveland had the lowest jobless rate for the month at 1.8%, followed by Bismarck, N.D., at 2%. El Centro, Calif., had the highest rate, at 21.9%, followed by Yuma, Ariz., at 19%.
Among the nation’s 56 metro areas with populations greater than 1 million, Cleveland recorded the lowest jobless rate in August, while Fresno, Calif., was the highest at 7.8%.
A total of 230 metro areas had unemployment rates below the U.S. average of 4.3%, with 142 areas above the national rate and 15 equal to it.
Figures represent non-seasonally adjusted data.
While the D.C. metro area’s unemployment rate improved from a year before, the region still led the nation in the year-over-year decline in overall employment (off 66,000) and the percentage decline (2%), based on nonfarm payroll figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
