Total employment in Arlington decreased by 4.5% during the first year of the second Trump administration, tying with D.C. for the biggest drop nationwide.
The decline was part of a downward trend across the inner D.C. region in figures reported Aug. 28 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Employment in Arlington fell to 172,000 in the first quarter of 2026, while D.C.’s workforce fell to 715,700, owing to federal downsizing and its impact on the broader economy.
According to federal officials:
“Within Washington, the largest employment decrease occurred in combined government, with a loss of 25,704 (-11%). Within Arlington, the largest employment decrease occurred in professional and business services, with a loss of 3,563 (-5.6%).”
The quarterly report counts those employed within localities. It is different from monthly unemployment data, which counts individuals by place of residence, no matter where they are employed.
A drop in employment was recorded in all other major jurisdictions of the inner D.C. suburban core:
- Alexandria declined 2.6% to 79,000
- Fairfax County fell 2.1% to 622,800
- Montgomery County recorded a drop of 4.0% to 440,700
- Prince George’s County dipped 2.9% to 320,400
Jurisdictions in the outer suburbs fared better, with Loudoun County seeing an employment uptick of 2.8% to 206,100 and Prince William County recording growth of 1% to 146,400.
The data counts workers covered by federal unemployment-insurance programs in both the private sector and federal government. The quarterly survey of the nation’s 376 largest U.S. counties — and, in Virginia, independent cities — represented just under three-quarters of workers covered nationally.
From March 2025 to March 2026, employment increased in just 151 of the 376 communities in the survey. Nationally, employment was up 0.1% to 154.8 million.
Employment declines in the inner Northern Virginia suburbs were part of the reason Virginia’s total employment dropped 0.2% year-over-year for the quarter, to just over 4.1 million.
Among major jurisdictions elsewhere in the commonwealth:
- Chesterfield County: Employment was down 0.7% to 148,300
- Henrico County: Down 0.4% to 190,700
- Chesapeake: Down 0.8% to 106,000
- Newport News: Down 0.7% to 101,900
- Norfolk: Down 1% to 142,200
- Virginia Beach: Up 0.6% to 180,800
