Alexandria’s total workforce remained below 100,000 residents for the 11th month in a row in September, with some city residents moving into retirement or nontraditional jobs — or leaving the local area entirely.
The city’s total civilian workforce stood at 97,772 in September, with 94,680 employed and 3,092 seeking jobs, according to figures reported Oct. 28 by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.
The result was an unemployment rate of 3.2%, largely unchanged from 3.3% a year before. Figures represent those who live in Alexandria, no matter where they work.
Both the number employed and those unemployed in the city were down from a year before, as the region continues to acclimate to Trump-era federal downsizing and its ripple effects throughout the broader economy.
The city’s total workforce surpassed 100,000 in the state data until March 2020, when Covid roared in and some residents left the traditional workforce or departed the city to chase opportunities elsewhere.
It rebounded to 100,000 in March 2023 and, with one exception — 99,421 in December 2023 — stayed above that benchmark until September 2025.
Since then, however, the total consistently has been below the 100,000 figure. There was no data for October 2025 owing to the federal government shutdown.
The workforce total of 97,772 this September was off 5% from the all-time record of 102,864 set in July 2024, based on ALXnow analysis of state data.
Across Northern Virginia as a whole, September’s jobless rate of 3.4% was up from 3% a year ago, representing just under 1.65 million in the civilian workforce and about 57,800 seeking jobs.
Statewide, September’s jobless rate of 3.6% was up from 3.4% a year ago, counting about 4.28 million with jobs and just over 162,000 seeking them.
The D.C. region was one of 226 metro areas across the nation to see lower year-over-year jobless rates in September, according to data also reported on Oct. 28 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Rates were higher in 138 metro areas and unchanged in 23.
The national unemployment rate in September was 4%, little changed from a year before, federal officials said.
Metro area jobless rate declines
Across the D.C. metro area, about 3.44 million were employed in September with about 126,000 seeking jobs. The resulting unemployment rate of 3.7% was down from 4.1% a year before.
While the region’s number of unemployed was down from a year before, so was the number of those employed.
In terms of total nonfarm employment, the D.C. region saw the sharpest decline in raw numbers year over year, with the region losing 61,000 jobs, or 1.8% of its total.
That’s more than 15 times the next largest drop, a total of 3,800 recorded in Bloomington, Ind. But because Bloomington’s population is much smaller, its percentage drop of 4.7% was significantly larger than the D.C. region’s.
Figures are non seasonally adjusted. All September 2026 figures are preliminary and are subject to revision.
Image via Vitaly Gariev/Unsplash
