The District’s unemployment rate fell in July to 8.9 percent, marking the fourth straight month of improvement for an economy that the recession hit especially hard.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday that the city’s jobless figure had slipped from 9.1 percent in June to its lowest level since February 2009.
The dip is almost certain to buttress Mayor Vincent Gray’s argument that despite the distractions of a sweeping federal investigation into his campaign, his administration continues to function.
“I’m thrilled that our efforts to reduce unemployment in the District continue to pay off,” Gray said in a statement. “Having unemployment under 9 percent citywide is a huge milestone.”
The administration also said that the private sector drove most of the job growth, not increases in federal government jobs.
In presidential battleground Virginia, the unemployment rate climbed to 5.9 percent, up from 5.7 percent in June. Virginia’s economy fared relatively well during the recession and its surrounding years, and its jobless figure never exceeded 7.3 percent.
Maryland’s unemployment rate rose slightly to 7 percent, a slight increase from the 6.9 percent figure it recorded in June. Maryland’s unemployment rate peaked at 8 percent for a four-month stretch in late 2009 and early 2010.
The national unemployment rate stands at 8.3 percent.
