DMV now leading the country in job losses, by a mile

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:The New York Times had a story the other day on the front page about unemployment in DC, focusing on out of work USAID people.

"A year later, people have plowed through savings, cashed out retirement funds and moved in with friends and relatives. Former U.S.A.I.D. workers who have done informal surveys estimate that less than half have found full-time work, with many making less than before. An estimated third are unemployed. Others are in part-time work. The District of Columbia currently has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, at 6.7 percent, in large part because of major reductions in the federal work force, including U.S.A.I.D., and cuts to government grants and contracts.

The few former U.S.A.I.D. workers who have landed similar or better jobs don’t like to talk about it in front of unemployed friends.

“I feel guilty, honestly, that of all my colleagues who I know are still unemployed, I’m the one who found something,” said Sara Miner, 42, who was a senior adviser in the agency’s H.I.V.-AIDS office and previously ran health programs in Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Now she helps manage health and human service programs for Fairfax County, Va.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/us/politics/usaid-former-employees.html

There's a lot of former USAID people who have struggled. Still blows my mind that Congress allowed Trump to just delete the agency.

It's apparent how mediocre they are that they are not qualified for real jobs outside a sinecure.

Their entire field of work was just deleted. Give them a minute. There are no contractors because the entire realm of development work in the US was just ended. We are the laughingstock of the world not to mention growing more hated every day. Just wait until we're not the most powerful. They you'll see how much hate Trump has created towards us. He will be long since dead but the resentment he creates will be long lived.

It is a plus for the entire world that this field has been wiped out and all of these overpaid mediocrities can go to Amazon warehouses, which is all they are qualified to do.

Look at the people who run the Trump administration. It's not even the D List of Republicans. It's the bottom of the barrel people because no one else wanted the word "Trump" on their resume. They can't give away some of these jobs that used to be the apex of people's careers.

True. Anyone of integrity and talents has no interest in going to work for the Trump Administration. We are extremely fortunate that some civil servants have kept their jobs in order to protect democracy and this country but no blame for those who gave left. The Justice Department is a prime ehample - we have lost a quarter of the experts who work in DOJ’s National Security Division alone which is incredibly dangerous and now run by a Trump sycophant.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Yet the housing market is insane right now, with bidding wars being the norm in places like Bethesda and Arlington.

There's been a housing shortage here for years. What's your point?

Builders don't want to have anything to do with DC because of the city's policies. For example, thanks to the city council, especially Janeese Lewis George, it is almost impossible to evict people who refuse to pay their rent. Builders are not charities. They need to make money. Why would builders want to build apartment buildings here when everyone knows that some fraction of people they rent to will almost immediately stop paying and it will take years of court fights to get them to either pay or leave? They'll just go elsewhere.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet the housing market is insane right now, with bidding wars being the norm in places like Bethesda and Arlington.

There's been a housing shortage here for years. What's your point?

Builders don't want to have anything to do with DC because of the city's policies. For example, thanks to the city council, especially Janeese Lewis George, it is almost impossible to evict people who refuse to pay their rent. Builders are not charities. They need to make money. Why would builders want to build apartment buildings here when everyone knows that some fraction of people they rent to will almost immediately stop paying and it will take years of court fights to get them to either pay or leave? They'll just go elsewhere.

+1

Complete nonsense. Builders didn't have any problems building in DC until Jan/Feb/March 2025. Wonder what happened?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet the housing market is insane right now, with bidding wars being the norm in places like Bethesda and Arlington.

There's been a housing shortage here for years. What's your point?

Builders don't want to have anything to do with DC because of the city's policies. For example, thanks to the city council, especially Janeese Lewis George, it is almost impossible to evict people who refuse to pay their rent. Builders are not charities. They need to make money. Why would builders want to build apartment buildings here when everyone knows that some fraction of people they rent to will almost immediately stop paying and it will take years of court fights to get them to either pay or leave? They'll just go elsewhere.

+1

Complete nonsense. Builders didn't have any problems building in DC until Jan/Feb/March 2025. Wonder what happened?

Not true. I work in affordable housing finance and investors are saying no to doing deals in dc because of the impossible eviction process. There are other prohousing policies that help those in need stay housed, but this aint it

[Anonymous]

DC has the highest unemployment rate in the country. You'd think this would be the No. 1 issue in the mayoral race, and the city council races. But everyone seems to be trying their best to avoid it. They don't even offer plans to address it. WTF

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:How is rhe DC mayor supposed to make the federal government do anything? Federal employees were fired or pushed out, whole agencies were eliminated, contracts cancelled, and funding to NGOs cut. That's why so many jobs were lost. Add in tech woes and there you have it.

Whoever is mayor should act like a mayor or governor anywhere else and work to attract businesses to provide. I know that’s a foreign concept in DC where the assumption is that jobs (and a base to tax) will just appear because of federal funding

JLG just wants to beat up on businesses and then act like it's some sort of unknowable magical force that makes jobs appear or disappear.

JLG is just trying to get elected. She needs the job. So I get that. Who I don’t get is someone like Frumin and his 10 cent ideas. One of his great ideas was for the city to buy the Intelsat building and turn it into a school. Thus, taking a potential future corporate campus off the tax rolls for perpetuity. This is what we get when we elect 13 “civic activists” to the council with a combined zero days in the private sector.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC has the highest unemployment rate in the country. You'd think this would be the No. 1 issue in the mayoral race, and the city council races. But everyone seems to be trying their best to avoid it. They don't even offer plans to address it. WTF

They're completely out of touch. They're more interested in robotaxis than people who've been out of work for a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC has the highest unemployment rate in the country. You'd think this would be the No. 1 issue in the mayoral race, and the city council races. But everyone seems to be trying their best to avoid it. They don't even offer plans to address it. WTF

The top issue of any of the candidates is how much more they hate Trump than the other candidates and how they will fight Trump.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It's wild to me how out of touch the mayoral candidates are. People have out of work for a year. They're applied to hundreds of jobs, they're running through their savings, their unemployment is ending, they don't how they're going to retire or send their kids to college and Janeese Lewis George is like let's focus on traffic safety! The job market is in free fall and they just ignore it.

The obsession with traffic safety is annoying. We have bigger fish to fry.

Indeed. Turn off the automated traffic cameras and end the contract with the vendor. We can spend that money elsewhere.

The traffic cameras make money that can help the people who have lost their jobs.

They don't "make money." They collect fines, effectively taxing the populace. If the net operations benefit (safety differential, etc., less time-related cost of compliance, enforcement, fine-paying, etc.) exceeds the vendor fee and that holistic-benefit-net-of-vendor-cost exceeds similar measures of alternate programs (either safety-focused or welfare-focused, given the putative use of the fine intake), then it might "make" something of societal benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's wild to me how out of touch the mayoral candidates are. People have out of work for a year. They're applied to hundreds of jobs, they're running through their savings, their unemployment is ending, they don't how they're going to retire or send their kids to college and Janeese Lewis George is like let's focus on traffic safety! The job market is in free fall and they just ignore it.

The obsession with traffic safety is annoying. We have bigger fish to fry.

Indeed. Turn off the automated traffic cameras and end the contract with the vendor. We can spend that money elsewhere.

The traffic cameras make money that can help the people who have lost their jobs.

They don't "make money." They collect fines, effectively taxing the populace. If the net operations benefit (safety differential, etc., less time-related cost of compliance, enforcement, fine-paying, etc.) exceeds the vendor fee and that holistic-benefit-net-of-vendor-cost exceeds similar measures of alternate programs (either safety-focused or welfare-focused, given the putative use of the fine intake), then it might "make" something of societal benefit.

Yes, they are “taxing” the people who refuse to follow the laws. Easily avoided if you care enough. And you might even save a life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC has the highest unemployment rate in the country. You'd think this would be the No. 1 issue in the mayoral race, and the city council races. But everyone seems to be trying their best to avoid it. They don't even offer plans to address it. WTF

The top issue of any of the candidates is how much more they hate Trump than the other candidates and how they will fight Trump.

I think the real issue is that Janeese, in particular, has built her career on hating businesses and never letting any politician get to her left on any issue, and now DC really needs businesses (also known as employers) to fix the job mess created by DOGE and she can't do that because that's asking her to change her stripes. But it shouldn't be about her. It should be able voters' needs and finding people jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's wild to me how out of touch the mayoral candidates are. People have out of work for a year. They're applied to hundreds of jobs, they're running through their savings, their unemployment is ending, they don't how they're going to retire or send their kids to college and Janeese Lewis George is like let's focus on traffic safety! The job market is in free fall and they just ignore it.

The obsession with traffic safety is annoying. We have bigger fish to fry.

Indeed. Turn off the automated traffic cameras and end the contract with the vendor. We can spend that money elsewhere.

The traffic cameras make money that can help the people who have lost their jobs.

They don't "make money." They collect fines, effectively taxing the populace. If the net operations benefit (safety differential, etc., less time-related cost of compliance, enforcement, fine-paying, etc.) exceeds the vendor fee and that holistic-benefit-net-of-vendor-cost exceeds similar measures of alternate programs (either safety-focused or welfare-focused, given the putative use of the fine intake), then it might "make" something of societal benefit.

Yes, they are “taxing” the people who refuse to follow the laws. Easily avoided if you care enough. And you might even save a life.

If you refuse to follow laws, why would you bother paying a ticket? That's just another law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Janeese Lewis George says she'll raise taxes on businesses. Um....

She’s running as a communist? Remind me…

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The Bureau of Labor Statistics says we lost 103,900 jobs in the past year. Maybe this is something the mayoral candidates should address?

https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/washington-dc-metropolitan-area-lost-103900-jobs-from-january-2025-to-january-2026.htm

How exactly is a mayor going to improve this? Be realistic

Is this a real question? How about by not being incredibly hostile to businesses? That would be a good place to start.

Mayors have such limited ability to deal with the macro issues that are impacting jobs. Being "less hostile" to business is going to have negligible impacts, if any.

Are you dumb or just insane?

Really don't think you know who the world works.

DC leads the country in job losses. If this was happening in any other city, it would be a five alarm fire.

Other cities aren't beholden to the whims of the federal executive branch.

Other cities have politicians who actually try to make their economies better.

Please explain in detail how one would do that in DC? And if your answer is "be less hostile to business" then you're not being serious at all.

AI has some specific suggestions:

Market-Oriented Reforms

Reduce Reliance on Federal Government: D.C. should aim to diversify its economy by decreasing dependence on federal contracts and jobs. This can help stabilize the local economy against federal budget fluctuations.

Lower Costs: Implementing policies that reduce operational costs for businesses, such as tax incentives or streamlined regulations, can make D.C. a more attractive place for companies to set up and grow.

Support for Small Businesses

Enhance Resources: Providing better access to funding, mentorship, and training programs for small businesses can foster a more vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Simplify Regulations: Reviewing and refining business regulations to ensure they are not overly burdensome can help small businesses thrive.

Foster Innovation-Driven Growth

Encourage Startups: Creating incubators and accelerators can support new business ventures, particularly in technology and innovation sectors.

Invest in Infrastructure: Improving transportation and digital infrastructure can enhance business operations and attract new companies to the area.

Lol. Business in America is a zero sum game. Where are we going to poach these other industries from, exactly?

A zero sum game? WTF? You think jobs are like friggin bitcoin and there's only so many that can be made?

DP. It’s both and DC is failing at both. California is making an unforced error with a wealth tax and instead of offering a safe haven, our council just says “hold my beer” while we drive our own businesses out. We have a highly trained workforce that should be attractive to companies fleeing elsewhere. But, yeah, DC policies fail as an incubator for new businesses also.

this. Also tons of empty commercial RE on a very nice urban grid with great public transit already in place in DC proper. All we need is incentives

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Bureau of Labor Statistics says we lost 103,900 jobs in the past year. Maybe this is something the mayoral candidates should address?

https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/washington-dc-metropolitan-area-lost-103900-jobs-from-january-2025-to-january-2026.htm

How exactly is a mayor going to improve this? Be realistic

Is this a real question? How about by not being incredibly hostile to businesses? That would be a good place to start.

Mayors have such limited ability to deal with the macro issues that are impacting jobs. Being "less hostile" to business is going to have negligible impacts, if any.

Are you dumb or just insane?

Really don't think you know who the world works.

DC leads the country in job losses. If this was happening in any other city, it would be a five alarm fire.

Other cities aren't beholden to the whims of the federal executive branch.

Other cities have politicians who actually try to make their economies better.

Please explain in detail how one would do that in DC? And if your answer is "be less hostile to business" then you're not being serious at all.

AI has some specific suggestions:

Market-Oriented Reforms

Reduce Reliance on Federal Government: D.C. should aim to diversify its economy by decreasing dependence on federal contracts and jobs. This can help stabilize the local economy against federal budget fluctuations.

Lower Costs: Implementing policies that reduce operational costs for businesses, such as tax incentives or streamlined regulations, can make D.C. a more attractive place for companies to set up and grow.

Support for Small Businesses

Enhance Resources: Providing better access to funding, mentorship, and training programs for small businesses can foster a more vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Simplify Regulations: Reviewing and refining business regulations to ensure they are not overly burdensome can help small businesses thrive.

Foster Innovation-Driven Growth

Encourage Startups: Creating incubators and accelerators can support new business ventures, particularly in technology and innovation sectors.

Invest in Infrastructure: Improving transportation and digital infrastructure can enhance business operations and attract new companies to the area.

Lol. Business in America is a zero sum game. Where are we going to poach these other industries from, exactly?

A zero sum game? WTF? You think jobs are like friggin bitcoin and there's only so many that can be made?

DP. It’s both and DC is failing at both. California is making an unforced error with a wealth tax and instead of offering a safe haven, our council just says “hold my beer” while we drive our own businesses out. We have a highly trained workforce that should be attractive to companies fleeing elsewhere. But, yeah, DC policies fail as an incubator for new businesses also.

this. Also tons of empty commercial RE on a very nice urban grid with great public transit already in place in DC proper. All we need is incentives

JLG said the other day she's going to raise taxes on businesses. More disincentives.