DMV job market strained by federal downsizing, unemployment rises

A report released Wednesday says the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency overhaul of the federal workforce has battered the Washington area job market and pushed more households into financial distress across the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. The Brookings Institution and Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ DMV Monitor found homes for sale in the region rose sharply since June 2024 and that the region’s unemployment rate has been the highest in the nation for four consecutive months.

The interactive data set cited by the report shows the region’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 5.3 percent in January to 6 percent in August, compared with a 4.3 percent national average, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics figures. The report said the number of homes for sale in the DMV climbed about 64 percent since June 2024, a sign of growing financial strain among households tied to the federal workforce.

From the start of President Donald Trump’s second term in January, the report says, the Department of Government Efficiency, led early on by a presidential adviser, carried out sweeping cuts intended to root out fraud, waste...