Arlington Employment Falls 4.5% to 172,000, Tying D.C. for Biggest U.S. Drop
Updated
Updated · ARLnow · Sep 1
Arlington Employment Falls 4.5% to 172,000, Tying D.C. for Biggest U.S. Drop
1 articles · Updated · ARLnow · Sep 1
Summary
Arlington lost 4.5% of its jobs in the year through March 2026, dropping to 172,000 and matching Washington, D.C., for the steepest employment decline among the nation’s largest jurisdictions.
Federal downsizing drove the slide across the inner D.C. region: government jobs in D.C. fell by 25,704, or 11%, while Arlington’s biggest sector loss came in professional and business services, down 3,563, or 5.6%.
Inner suburbs also weakened, with Montgomery County down 4.0%, Prince George’s 2.9%, Alexandria 2.6% and Fairfax 2.1%, while outer suburbs held up better as Loudoun grew 2.8% and Prince William 1.0%.
Nationally, employment still edged up 0.1% to 154.8 million, but only 151 of 376 large localities posted gains; in Virginia, the Northern Virginia slump helped pull statewide employment down 0.2% to just over 4.1 million.