There appears to be an economic trend forming in D.C. as jobless claims have been on a steep upward trajectory over the past several weeks.
According to the latest figures from the U.S. Labor Department, 1,780 unemployment claims were filed in the District for the week ending on Feb. 8 — a 36% increase from the 1,310 claims filed the previous week. At the same time last year, only 421 claims were recorded in D.C.
“When you do look at the numbers, it’s not just a one-week period; we’re seeing a general trend up ever since President Trump got into office,” said Jeff Cox, the economics editor for CNBC.com.
In the first six weeks of 2025, roughly 7,000 unemployment claims were filed in D.C., marking a 55% increase compared to the previous six-week period.
“It really seems like we’re building a potential trend here,” Cox said. “It definitely looks like a pretty substantial rise and something for sure worth watching.”
While it’s impossible to say with certainty the increase is directly linked to the sweeping federal job cuts being carried out by President Donald Trump’s administration, Cox said, “It would be hard to dismiss it as a coincidence.”
“It’s a pretty clear trend upward in the D.C. unemployment claims at a time when the national claims figure has really not moved a whole heck of a lot at all,” he added. “It’s really hard to dismiss it as being just an anomalous thing or just a coincidence.”
Unemployment figures in Maryland and Virginia have not followed the same dramatic pattern as D.C.
According to the Labor Department, Maryland saw 2,747 unemployment claims for the week ending Feb. 8 — a 5% decrease from the previous week. In Virginia, 2,916 claims were filed in the same period, which marked a 12% increase.
The civilian federal workforce — excluding military personnel and postal workers — consists of about 2.4 million people. Roughly 20% of those employees work in D.C. and the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia.
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