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D.C. jobless rate continues to rise
(Published January 10, 2005)

The District of Columbia’s unemployment rate continued to climb in November, reaching 8.7 percent, according to the D.C. Department of Employment Services.

During the month, there was a 1,400 decrease in the number of employed residents and an 800 increase in the number of unemployed residents, officials said. The November rate is an increase of 0.3 percent from October's jobless rate.

"The number of unemployment District residents continued to increase in November even as the District’s job growth remained strong, which has been a trend in the District for the past three months," DOES Director Gregg Irish said in a written statement.

During the past year the District added 8,000 jobs, with the private and public sectors increasing by 6,000 and 2,000 jobs, respectively. Financial and other professional business services jobs contributed the most to the private sector, while the federal and D.C. governments each added about 1,000 jobs.

The November 2004 unemployment rate jumped 1.8 percent compared with the November 2003 rate. The District’s unemployment rate last month was 3.5 percent higher than the national rate of 5.2 percent.

"They should be comparing D.C. to other cities; if you look at other urban areas we’re on par," said DOES spokeswoman Diana Johnson.

Johnson said that the District lacks the job diversity found in most states and that most jobs in the city require professional-level, rather than entry-level, skills.

"Although there are a number of jobs coming into the District, the District residents don’t seem to be benefiting from the job growth," Johnson said. "We know there is a skills [level] gap in the District."

While the District’s unemployment rate continues to increase, the D.C. suburbs continue to have relatively low unemployment rates. The suburban ring saw a 0.3 decrease in its unemployment rate to 2.5 percent in November 2004, down from 2.8 percent in November 2003.--By Joshua Garner