Higgins Strategy

From Study VIII, Exhibit 9

In the region, federal jobs stepped down in October 2025 and again in January 2026

Source. BLS Current Employment Statistics via FRED: federal government employment, District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia (seasonally adjusted) and the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metropolitan area (SMU11479009091000001, not seasonally adjusted). January 2019 – August 2026.

Method and data

Method. Federal government employment, thousands. The three jurisdictions are whole states, seasonally adjusted; the metropolitan area is not seasonally adjusted, because BLS publishes no adjusted federal series for it. The metropolitan area and the three jurisdictions overlap and are not additive.

MonthDistrict of ColumbiaMarylandVirginiaWashington metro area
January 2019194.9144.8180.8361.4
February 2019195.7144.8181.3362.4
March 2019195.7145181.1361.7
April 2019195.9145180.5361.8
May 2019195.2145.3181.5362.4
June 2019195.2145.5182364.5
July 2019195.4145.6182365.5
August 2019195.4146.1182.7364.2
September 2019195145.9182.1363.3
October 2019194.5145.7182.3363.5
November 2019194.9146182.6364.3
December 2019195.1146.1182.5363.9
January 2020195.3146.5184.8364.7
February 2020195.8146.6185365.5
March 2020195.9146.8185.5365.3
April 2020195.2147.2183.9365
May 2020194.7147.7184.3365
June 2020195.4148184.6367.1
July 2020198.2148.8186371.9
August 2020199.7153.4191.5376.1
September 2020199.6153.6191.3375.9
October 2020199.1152.4188.5375.7
November 2020198.7152186.6375.2
December 2020198.6151.1186.9373.2
January 2021198.5152.1186.5373.5
February 2021197.6152.6186.5373.1
March 2021197.6153186.6373.1
April 2021198.5153.3187.1374.7
May 2021198.9153.2186.5375
June 2021199153.2186.6376.5
July 2021199.3153.1186.6377.1
August 2021199.2153.3186.4375.8
September 2021199.2153.8186.7377.1
October 2021200153.6185.8377.7
November 2021199.7154.3185.9378
December 2021199154.3185.7376
January 2022198.4153.5185.7374.5
February 2022198154.2185.9375.1
March 2022197.3154.2185.5374.1
April 2022195.1154.5186.5372.9
May 2022193.6154.8186.9372
June 2022192154.4186.7371.4
July 2022191.9155.8187374.5
August 2022191.2155.8187.1371.2
September 2022190.6156.1187.4371.7
October 2022190.4155.6187.6372.4
November 2022189.9155.7187.5371.7
December 2022189.4155.5187.1368.9
January 2023189.4156187.5369.5
February 2023189.7156.5187.5369.4
March 2023189.7155.9187.8367.9
April 2023190.3157.1188.5368.5
May 2023190.9158.1188.8370.5
June 2023190.8158.7189.3371.6
July 2023190159.3189.5372.1
August 2023190.4159.7190370.4
September 2023191.3160191373.4
October 2023191.3160.3190.9373.9
November 2023191.7160.3190.6374.5
December 2023191160.1190.7372
January 2024193.5160.2191.1374.6
February 2024193.4160.4192.1375.2
March 2024193.2160.9192.1374.9
April 2024193.1161.3192.2374.3
May 2024193.3161.7192.9375.1
June 2024193.5161.8193.3377
July 2024194.6162.3193.6379.4
August 2024193.5162.4194.2375.7
September 2024193.2162.2194.2376.8
October 2024192.4162.5195377.7
November 2024191.9162.4195.4378.2
December 2024192.4162.4195.6377.4
January 2025192.2162195.7375.8
February 2025191.7161.9195.2375.5
March 2025192.4159.6192373
April 2025191.4157.6191.2369.5
May 2025191155.7190.3367
June 2025190.5153.4189.7365.1
July 2025189.4152.4189.3364.2
August 2025186147.8188.5353.5
September 2025185.7147188353.8
October 2025170.4137.3174.8326.8
November 2025170.4137174.8326.9
December 2025169.8136.3173.6325.4
January 2026166.5133.5170.3314.3
February 2026166.1133.3171.7314.3
March 2026165.4132.9170.8314
April 2026164.6133.1170.8313.4
May 2026164.4133.1170.3312.6
June 2026164.4133.4170.5313
July 2026164.6133.3169.8314
August 2026164.2132.7169.5311.9

Download 08-dc-maryland-virginia-monthly-2019-2026.csv

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Higgins Strategy. “In the region, federal jobs stepped down in October 2025 and again in January 2026” Exhibit 9, Every Federal Job (Study VIII). October 12, 2026. https://higginsstrategy.com/charts/08-dc-maryland-virginia-monthly-2019-2026/