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D.C. unemployment rises to 7.7%
(Published July 26, 2004)

Unemployment continued to climb in the District of Columbia in June, with students accounting for part of a 6,800-person rise in the size of the labor force as 23,500 unemployed residents sought but failed to find work.

New data announced July 21 by the D.C. Department of Employment Services (DOES) placed June’s unemployment rate in the city at 7.7 percent, a seven-tenths of a percent increase from May’s unemployment rate.

While the District’s June 2004 jobless rate was the same as the rate in June 2003, unemployment in the Washington suburbs and nationwide declined over the same period. The June 2004 national unemployment rate of 5.8 percent was seven-tenths of a percent lower than the June 2003 rate. The June 2004 unemployment rate of 2.8 percent in Washington’s suburban ring was six-tenths of a percent lower than the rate in June 2003.

Nationally, unemployment rose five-tenths of a percent from May to June of this year. The suburban Washington ring registered a slight two-tenths of a percent increase in its rate of jobless residents from May to June.

"The June increase was expected, as recent high school and college graduates entered the labor force," DOES Director Gregg Irish said.

A total of 280,100 D.C. residents were employed in June, according to government data. The District’s civilian labor force increased by 6,800 to 303,600 during the month.

From June 2003 to June 2004, the District’s civilian labor force decreased by 5,100. During the same 12-month period, the District gained 5,000 new jobs.