Category: Regional Economic Notes

In the Washington region overall, both the number of employed and unemployed residents in 2018 have changed at rates that were consistent with their 2016 and 2017 trends. However, the sub-state trends have shifted. Suburban Maryland had more unemployed residents and fewer employed residents compared to April 2017. By contrast, Northern Virginia and the District had fewer unemployed residents and more employed residents compared to last April. Altogether, this suggests that the population and workforce living in Suburban Maryland are responding to different factors than residents in the rest of the region.

After adjusting for regional price levels, the per capita personal income in the Washington region was $56,670 in 2016. Of the 15 largest metros, the Washington region had the fourth highest real PCPI. The region’s real PCPI increased 1.4 percent from 2015 but has increased a total of 2.7 percent since 2008, underperforming all other large metros except Houston.

The Washington Leading Index increased in February 2018, gaining 2.5 percent from February 2017 and building on January’s increase of 1.8 percent. The Leading Index had been positive in eleven of last year’s twelve months, the only exception being December’s decline that was likely linked to severe weather and the continuing budget impasse that threaten a federal government shutdown. This overall strong performance in 2017 has now continued through the first two months of 2018 and points to the region’s continued economic expansion through at least the third quarter of 2018.   

This piece ran in the Washington Business Journal in the April 20, 2018 edition. The graphic was prepared by the Washington Business Journal using data supplied by […]