Fairfax County in July recorded its largest number of residents employed since September 2025, but jobless totals remained higher than at the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term.
With 616,156 county residents employed in the civilian workforce and 21,819 looking for jobs, Fairfax’s July 2026 jobless rate was 3.4%, according to figures reported Sept. 2 by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.
That’s up slightly from the rate of 3.3% reported in July 2025, as the local economy has stabilized following Trump administration efforts to slash the federal workforce last year.
While the number of county residents seeking work was up only marginally since last summer, it remains more than 17% higher than the total in December 2024, the last full month of the Biden administration.
The increase might have been even more pronounced, but as observed by an economic forecast released last week by University of Virginia researchers, the local workforce has been shrinking as some workers retire, others transition to part-time or freelance work, and others take jobs out of the local area.
In the City of Fairfax, July’s employment total of 13,987 also was the highest since September 2025. With 448 city residents seeking work, the jobless rate was 3.1%, up slightly from 3% a year ago.
Among neighboring jurisdictions, the year-over-year unemployment picture largely was stable in July:
- In Alexandria, the unemployment rate of 3.2% was unchanged from a year before
- In Arlington, the jobless rate of 2.9% was down from 3%
- In Falls Church, the jobless rate of 3.3% was down from 3.6%
Across Northern Virginia as a whole, July’s jobless rate of 3.4% was up from 3.2% a year before. Total employment was down slightly to 1.68 million and joblessness rose from 57,442 to 59,027.
Statewide, July’s jobless rate was 3.7%, up from 3.6% a year before, with the total number of unemployed rising from 163,503 to 166,820 during the period.
According to the state government, Virginia’s labor-force participation rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 63% in July.
The participation rate measures the proportion of the civilian population age 16 and older that is employed or actively looking for work.
In late August, Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s administration launched Virginia Jobs Day, a new monthly initiative designed to provide Virginians with a comprehensive, data-driven report on the commonwealth’s labor market and what current workforce trends indicate about the state of Virginia’s economy.
Each month, Virginia Jobs Day will bring together labor market information from across the commonwealth to “provide a clearer picture of where Virginia’s economy stands, how conditions are changing, and where opportunities are emerging,” state officials said when announcing the initiative.
“Virginia Jobs Day gives Virginians a regular and comprehensive report on the state of our labor market, while helping explain what the numbers tell us about the broader commonwealth economy,” Virginia Secretary of Labor Jessica Looman said in a statement accompanying the announcement.
Metro area’s unemployment picture mixed
Both the number of those employed and seeking jobs declined in July from a year before across the D.C. region, according to new federal data.
With 3,473,856 residents counted as part of the civilian workforce and 137,741 looking for work, July’s metro-area jobless rate of 4% was down from 4.1% in July 2025.
The metro area’s total workforce, counting those with and without jobs, declined 2.3% year over year to just under 1.74 million — a loss of just over 40,000 as some residents leave the workforce and others relocate.
Despite the slightly improved unemployment rate, the Washington region’s decline of 2.2% of total nonfarm employment year-over-year was the largest drop nationally, both in percentage and raw terms.
The region was one of 241 of the nation’s 387 metropolitan areas to record a lower year-over-year jobless rate in July, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Rates were higher in 128 areas, unchanged in 18.
A total of 22 metro areas had jobless rates of less than 3% during the month, with seven areas reporting rates of 8% or more.
In July, the lowest unemployment rates were found in Bismarck, North Dakota, along with Rapid City and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at 1.9% each. The highest rate was reported in El Centro, California, at 19.7%, followed by Yuma, Arizona, at 18.9%.
Of the 56 metropolitan areas with a 2020 Census population of a million or more, Honolulu had the lowest jobless rate in July, 2.8%. The highest rate was reported in Fresno, California, at 7.7%.
Figures are non seasonally adjusted. July 2026 figures are preliminary and subject to revision.
