Higgins Strategy

From Study VIII, Exhibit 12

The region’s federal payroll, month by month

Source. BLS CES SMU11479009091000001 via FRED, not seasonally adjusted (BLS publishes no seasonally adjusted federal series for the MSA). January 2024 – August 2026.

Method and data

Method. Federal jobs in the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metropolitan area, thousands. 375.8 thousand in January 2025; 353.8 in September; 326.8 in October 2025, the month the deferred-resignation cohort came off payroll; 311.9 in August 2026 — a fall of 63.9 thousand, 17.0 percent. The series has been flat at 312–314 thousand since January 2026.

MonthFederal jobs (thousands)
January 2024374.6
February 2024375.2
March 2024374.9
April 2024374.3
May 2024375.1
June 2024377
July 2024379.4
August 2024375.7
September 2024376.8
October 2024377.7
November 2024378.2
December 2024377.4
January 2025375.8
February 2025375.5
March 2025373
April 2025369.5
May 2025367
June 2025365.1
July 2025364.2
August 2025353.5
September 2025353.8
October 2025326.8
November 2025326.9
December 2025325.4
January 2026314.3
February 2026314.3
March 2026314
April 2026313.4
May 2026312.6
June 2026313
July 2026314
August 2026311.9

Download viii-ex02-msa-monthly.csv

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Higgins Strategy. “The region’s federal payroll, month by month” Exhibit 12, Every Federal Job in the Region (Study VIII). October 12, 2026. https://higginsstrategy.com/charts/viii-ex02-msa-monthly/