Updates

The Washington region’s job growth weakened in February 2019 and this trend was reflected in each sub-state area. While the Washington region is under-performing most of its peer metros, the gains in these metros are also moderating, suggesting that national factors may also be playing a role in the Washington region’s slowdown.

There can be no question that Amazon’s HQ2 location in Arlington County will have significant implications for the local and regional economies. The direct and indirect impacts have been widely reported: 25,000 or more jobs with an average salary of $150,000, an annual payroll of $3.75 billion or more, $4 billion in new construction outlays, the generation and support of tens of thousands of other jobs throughout the region’s economy cutting across all sectors and the generation of significant magnitudes of net fiscal benefits—revenues exceeding public expenses—to the benefit of Arlington County (at least $26 million annually at build out) and more than $164 million annually to the Commonwealth of Virginia beyond the costs of state provided new public services.

The Washington region added 35,300 jobs in 2018 based on data released yesterday from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 16,800 fewer jobs than indicated by the preliminary releases. According to the most recent data, job growth was significantly weaker during the second half of the year and the gain between the fourth quarter 2017 and the fourth quarter 2018 was the smallest quarterly increase since 2014.

In the Washington region in 2017, 13.2 percent of residents lived in a household that did not have a cellular data plan. Residents without a cellular data plan had limited access to the increasing number of smartphone-enabled transportation and other services and access varied by geography, age and household income. Residents in the District were…