Updated

Updated · ALXnow · Sep 1

Alexandria Employment Falls 2.6% to 79,000 in Q1 2026 as D.C. and Arlington Drop 4.5%

Updated

Updated · ALXnow · Sep 1

Alexandria Employment Falls 2.6% to 79,000 in Q1 2026 as D.C. and Arlington Drop 4.5%

1 articles · Updated · ALXnow · Sep 1

79,000 jobs were reported in Alexandria for the first quarter of 2026, down 2.6% from a year earlier in updated Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released Aug. 28.
Combined government employment drove much of the regional weakness, with BLS saying Washington lost 25,704 government jobs, or 11%, while Arlington's biggest decline came in professional and business services.
4.5% declines in both the District of Columbia and Arlington outpaced Alexandria's drop; Prince George's fell 2.9%, Montgomery County 4%, and Fairfax County 2.1%.
Outer suburbs held up better, with Loudoun County adding 2.8% to 206,100 jobs and Prince William County rising 1% to 146,400.
Nationally, employment edged up 0.1% to 154.8 million, while Virginia slipped 0.2% to just over 4.1 million as inner Northern Virginia losses weighed on the state.

Sources

With federal jobs hitting a 30-year low, what hidden industries are secretly fueling the unexpected employment boom in outer suburbs like Loudoun?

As core cities bleed workers, will the massive exodus of government jobs permanently shift the economic heartbeat of the D.C. region?

How are shrinking urban labor forces reshaping local businesses that once relied on the daily commute of thousands of federal employees?

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