Though still up more than 50% from the final days of the Biden administration, the total number of Alexandria residents recorded as unemployed in February was the second lowest over the preceding year.
A total of 3,323 city residents were counted as seeking jobs in February data reported last week by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.
With 95,316 city residents counted as working in the civilian workforce, Alexandria’s unemployment rate for February was 3.4%, down from 3.6% in January.
But the number of unemployed in February was up 14.1% from a year earlier, when Trump administration federal workforce cutbacks began to take hold. It was also up 50.6% from December 2024, the last full month of the Biden administration.
That month, the city’s unemployment rate stood at 2.2%, before rising to a peak of 3.9% in August 2025, when 3,911 city residents were counted as jobless.
The lowest jobless total over the past year came in December at 2,206. All figures represent non-seasonally adjusted data.
While the reported jobless rate has dipped since last summer’s peak, that news may not be entirely positive. Some of those no longer counted as unemployed may have stopped looking for work, run out of unemployment benefits, or left the city or region in search of employment.
While the year-over-year increase in city joblessness totaled 412 people, the decline in those reported as employed totaled 2,651 during the same period.
Among neighboring jurisdictions:
- Fairfax County’s jobless rate of 3.7% in February was up from 3% a year before
- Arlington’s jobless rate of 3.2% was up from 2.8%
- Falls Church’s jobless rate of 4% was up from 3.1%
For the Washington metro area as a whole, total employment declined by 119,000 year over year — more than triple any other metro area. About 32,000 job declines came among those in Northern Virginia.
The February state data was reported just two weeks after January’s jobs figures posted. Since last fall, reporting has been delayed due to residual impacts from the seven-week federal government shutdown.
February 2026 figures are preliminary and subject to revision.
Unemployment higher at national level
Nationally, February jobless rates were higher year over year in 236 of 387 metropolitan areas, lower in 110 and unchanged in 41, according to data reported by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The national unemployment rate in February was 4.7%, non-seasonally adjusted, up from 4.5% a year earlier.
In February, Honolulu had the lowest unemployment rate among all metro areas at 2.2%. El Centro, Calif., had the highest at 17.6%.
Honolulu also had the lowest jobless rate among the 56 metro areas with populations of one million or more. Fresno, Calif., had the highest at 9.1%.
The 119,000 decline in jobs across the Washington region year over year was by far the largest nationally in February in raw numbers. On a percentage basis, however, the 3.5% decline ranked behind Yuma, Ariz. (down 5%) and Sierra Vista, Ariz. (down 4.6%).
Photo via Eric Prouzet/Unsplash
