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Home | News | D.C. unemployment reached 12.1 percent in December 2009

The Washington, D.C. unemployment rate climbed from 11.8 percent in November 2009 to a record 12.1 percent in December 2009, according to The Washington Post. The jobless rate is the highest since the government began collecting the data in 1976.

The district's unemployment rate is significantly higher than the U.S. rate of 10 percent, Maryland rate of 7.5 percent and Virginia rate of 6.9 percent. The unemployment rate for the district's black residents is three times the rate for white residents.

The unemployment rate is angering elected officials such as D.C. Council member Kwame Brown (D-At Large), who wants to offer more vocational education for adults and investigate the placement rates of job-training programs.

Despite the district's high unemployment rate, it added 6,100 jobs from December 2008 to December 2009; it added 600 jobs in December 2009. However, the district's labor force reportedly has a large proportion of uneducated people, so the majority of high-paying jobs often are given to more qualified Maryland and Northern Virginia residents. Less-educated residents typically work in industries such as construction, which lost 200 jobs in December 2009; leisure and hospitality, which lost 400 jobs; and retail and transportation, which lost 500 jobs.

1/28/2010

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