Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia Job Growth

There were 2,992,400 jobs in Washington, District of Columbia in December 2011 according to the CES survey of employers. The CPS survey of households showed 2,927,431 employed persons for the month. Washington added 2,500 jobs in December 2011 according to the CES survey while the broader CPS measure of employment rose by 9,210 (Comparing CES and CPS employment numbers.). You can also compare Washington job growth to job growth in other cities.

Employment Survey	December 2011	Month/Month	Year/Year
CES	2,992,400	+2,500	+13,900
CPS	2,927,431	+9,210	+43,220

Note: The CPS survey data is now seasonally adjusted at the metropolitan level by with the new BLS SSA series.

Washington, District of Columbia Employment Changes

The chart below shows the monthly job growth for Washington as measured by the CES survey. To illustrate the trend, the 3 month moving average change in employment is shown in green. The CPS data is not shown since it is not seasonally adjusted at the metropolitan level.

CES Employment Change: 1 Month, Rolling 3 Month

CPS Employment Change: 1 Month, Rolling 3 Month

Total Employment for Washington, District of Columbia

CES employment for Washington peaked in May 2008 at 3,012,400. Since then 20,000 jobs have been lost in Washington according to the employer survey. From a trough of 2,916,600 in February 2010, Washington has gained 75,800 jobs according to CES employment figures.

CPS employment reached a maximum of 2,940,349 for Washington in June 2008. 12,918 jobs have been lost in Washington since then according to the household survey. From a November 2009 low of 2,855,654, Washington has added 71,777 jobs according to the CPS survey.

Employment: CES, CPS

Washington, District of Columbia Employment History

Date	CES Employment	CES Month/Month	CPS Employment	CPS Month/Month
December 2011	2,992,400	2,500	2,927,431	9,210
November 2011	2,989,900	3,900	2,918,221	11,326
October 2011	2,986,000	2,900	2,906,895	11,030
September 2011	2,983,100	21,100	2,895,865	8,352
August 2011	2,962,000	-21,900	2,887,513	-2,965
July 2011	2,983,900	12,100	2,890,478	-4,773
June 2011	2,971,800	-2,400	2,895,251	-3,730
May 2011	2,974,200	-10,600	2,898,981	-1,450
April 2011	2,984,800	-4,900	2,900,431	-162
March 2011	2,989,700	-8,000	2,900,593	6,489
February 2011	2,997,700	12,300	2,894,104	5,438
January 2011	2,985,400	6,900	2,888,666	4,455
December 2010	2,978,500	500	2,884,211	1,692