Led by growth in the suburbs, the DC area is adding jobs faster than the rest of the country – Washington Post

The D.C. metropolitan area added an impressive 81,100 jobs in the one-year period ending in June, a 2.4 percent employment growth rate that handily outstripped the nation, according to government data released Friday.

Unemployment rates remained low in June with Maryland's rate dropping slightly from 4.5 percent to 4.3 percent and the District's rate edged narrowly downward to 6 percent, from 6.1 percent, mirroring a national trend that has brought unemployment close to pre-recession lows. Virginia's unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent.

"We're way ahead from where we were in 2013 and 2014, but we're still not leading the pack," said Stephen Fuller, an economist at George Mason University who studies the regional economy.

Most new jobs came in sectors like leisure, hospitality, retail and healthcare, industries that rely on consumer spending and often have lower wages. Job growth was underwhelming in professional and business services, the category that includes federal contractors as well as those in specialized technology and legal professions.

The contracting sector has steadily recovered over the past few years after it took a hit due to the so-called sequestration cuts that took effect in 2013. But Friday's jobs data suggest a relatively weak year for that sector.

"We're adding more jobs that pay below or near the average than above the average," Fuller said

Most of the region's new job growth occurred in the District's suburban periphery of Northern Virginia and Maryland. The job market downtown grew at a lackluster 1.5 percent rate and the new jobs that did pop up in the city were mainly associated with government.

A boom in construction jobs in suburban Maryland has provided an unexpected bright spot in recent jobs reports. New homes are being built and sold in places such as Prince George's County, areas that were racked by foreclosures following the recession.

"The Maryland housing market is finally recovering in earnest," said Anirban Basu, an economist at Baltimore-based Sage Policy Group.