District of Columbia Adds 8,400 Private Sector Jobs in October

Washington, DC – The District of Columbia Department of Employment Services reported today that 8,400 jobs were added to the District’s private sector industries during October 2015. The seasonally adjusted preliminary unemployment rate was 6.6 percent – down by 0.1 percentage point from the reported and revised September unemployment rate.     The District’s preliminary October job estimates show public sector payrolls decreased by 200 jobs, for a total of 773,000 jobs in the District. The numbers are drawn from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) through its monthly survey of the District of Columbia’s employers.     The number of unemployed District residents was down 400 from 25,900 in September 2015 to 25,500 in October 2015.     Based on more complete reporting from employers, previously released September estimates were revised upward to show an over-the-month (August-September) total non-farm employment increase of 6,300 jobs.    Employment Overview

• Educational and Health Services increased by 2,800 jobs, after an increase of 7,200 jobs in the prior month. With employment at 133,700, jobs are up by 1,700 or 1.3 percent from a year ago.
• Leisure and Hospitality increased by 200 jobs, after an increase of 400 jobs in September. With employment at 70,100, jobs are down by 1,200 or -1.7 percent over the year.
• Other Services increased by 300 jobs, after an increase of 500 jobs the prior month. With employment at 72,900, jobs are up by 1,900 or 2.7 percent from a year ago.
• Professional and Business Services increased by 4,400 jobs, after a decrease of 1,700 jobs in September. With employment at 166,100, jobs are up by 5,300 or 3.3 percent from a year ago.
• Construction decreased by 100 jobs, after a decrease of 200 jobs in September. With employment at 14,800, jobs are up by 200 or 1.4 percent from a year ago.
• Trade, Transportation, and Utilities increased by 600 jobs, after having a decrease of 100 jobs in September. With employment at 31,500, jobs are down by 100 or -0.3 percent from a year ago.
• Financial Activities increased by 400 jobs, after a decrease of 100 the prior month. With employment at 31,300, jobs are up by 700 or 2.3 percent from one year ago.
• Information decreased by 200 jobs, after having a decrease of 100 jobs in the prior month. With employment at 16,900, there was no change in jobs from one year ago.
• Manufacturing had no over-the-month change in jobs, after having no change in jobs in the prior month. With employment at 1,000, there was no change in jobs from one year ago.

Labor Force Overview

• The number of employed District residents increased by 1,500 over the month to 362,300. The civilian labor force increased by 1,000 to 387,800.
• One year ago, total employment was 352,900 and the civilian labor force was 382,600.  The number of unemployed was 29,600, and the unemployment rate was 7.7 percent.

NOTES: The October 2015 final and November 2015 preliminary unemployment rate and survey of jobs data for the District will be released on Friday, December 18, 2015. Historical jobs and labor force estimates for the District of Columbia and detailed labor market information is available at: http://does.dc.gov/page/labor-statistics Technical Notes: Estimates of industry employment and unemployment levels are arrived through the use of two different monthly surveys.    Industry employment data are derived through the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey, a monthly survey of business establishments conducted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the US Department of Labor, which provides estimates of employment, hours, and earnings data broken down by industry for the nation as a whole, all states, and most major metropolitan areas (often referred to as the “establishment” survey).    Resident employment and unemployment data are mainly derived from the District’s portion of the national Current Population Survey (CPS), a household survey conducted each month by the US Census Bureau under contract with BLS, which provides input to the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program (often referred to as the “household” survey).    Both industry and household estimates are revised each month based on additional information from updated survey reports compiled by BLS. In addition, these estimates are benchmarked (revised) annually based on actual counts from the District’s Unemployment Compensation Law administrative records and other data.   Data reflects 2014 annual benchmark revisions.   Industry employment data is not seasonally adjusted.