D.C. unemployment nears 11 percent in May

Unemployment in the District rose to 10.7 percent in May, up nearly a point since April as two critical sectors bled thousands of jobs.

The numbers, released by the D.C. Department of Employment Services, are bad but not unexpected. In mid-May, Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi told a House appropriations subcommittee that the city’s unemployment rate would rise to 11.5 percent next year and the District’s economic condition would continue to deteriorate.