The number of Fairfax County residents among the ranks of the unemployed was up 43% year-over-year, new state jobs data show.
A total of 24,051 county residents were recorded as seeking jobs in November, according to figures reported on Wednesday (Jan. 22) by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.
That’s up from 16,761 in November 2024. During that period, the county’s jobless rate grew from 2.6% to 3.8%, and marked its ninth consecutive month above 3%.
The spike is due to sweeping federal government cutbacks that have had an economic ripple effect across the D.C. metro area.
After adding federal jobs almost every year since 2005, Virginia saw a net drop of 23,500 civilian federal jobs through November of last year, bringing employment in the sector to its lowest level since at least 2015, the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO found after analyzing U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Elsewhere in Northern Virginia in November:
- Arlington recorded 5,370 unemployed residents, with a year-over-year jobless rate that rose from 2.3% to 3.5%
- Alexandria: 3,723 unemployed residents for a jobless rate of 3.8%, up from 2.5%
- Falls Church: 344 jobless residents, unemployment rate grew from 2.5% to 4.2%
- Loudoun County: 8,953 for an unemployment rate that grew from 2.5% to 3.6%
- Prince William County: 9,958 unemployed with a jobless rate that rose from 2.7% to 3.8%
- Fairfax City: 478 unemployed for a jobless rate of 3.4%, up from 2.5%
In data reported a week prior to the locality figures, a total of 65,357 residents of the Northern Virginia portion of the Washington metropolitan area were counted as unemployed for the month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That compares to the 46,381 residents tallied as seeking jobs in November 2024.
The November 2025 Northern Virginia unemployment rate of 3.7% was up from 2.6% a year before, according to the new figures.
Statewide, the number of Virginians counted as unemployed in November was 173,136, up 31.2% from 131,957 a year before, according to figures reported by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.
Publication of November 2025 data was delayed due to the seven-week shutdown of the federal government last fall, which also meant October figures were not collected. All November 2025 figures are preliminary and subject to revision.
