WaPo Data show D.C. area is feeling toll of federal spending cuts

[Anonymous]

The start of the DMV's Great Depression...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/d-c-area-is-feeling-toll-of-federal-spending-cuts-these-charts-show-how/ar-AA1JRObu?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=6890d25a18734144a31306a1b30b723e&ei=18

The Washington region’s economy is starting to wobble, with the disproportionate impacts of federal budget cuts compared to the rest of the country becoming harder to ignore.

From surging unemployment claims to shrinking contractor work to a pullback in local consumer spending, signs of strain are emerging across key sectors that once helped prop up the region. Amid concerns about slowing national economic growth, the Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal workforce, including the elimination of thousands of federal jobs, is being acutely felt in a national capital region that was already struggling to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

1. Unemployment claims on the rise
In May, D.C.’s unemployment rate was 5.9 percent — the highest in more than three years.

The number of federal workers turning to unemployment insurance is climbing steadily, with claims rising 64 percent between February and June — from 1,064 to 1,747. That surge is starting to show up in the city’s bottom line: In June alone, D.C. paid out more than $2.5 million in federal civilian jobless benefits, a sharp jump from earlier in the spring.

Maryland saw a similar spike, with payments nearly doubling since April. In Virginia’s Fairfax County, unemployment has reached levels not seen since mid-2021.

And there’s still another shoe to drop.

The federal government is paying more than 154,000 people nationwide not to work as part of the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program. Terminated federal workers have also described lengthy delays in accessing paperwork necessary to file for unemployment. Calls and emails to former bosses and human resources officials have gone unanswered, some say. The bureaucratic morass, ongoing legal battles, and deferred resignation plan — which incentivized federal workers to quit but still be paid through Sept. 30 — means unemployment data is probably not yet capturing the scale of the workforce cuts.

[Anonymous]

Uh, ya think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uh, ya think?

Yeah, but now there's actual data show it's affecting everything...

Washingtonians are spending less
Consumer spending in D.C. is also starting to slip. Washingtonians are cutting back on things like dining out, clothing, and beauty products — and they’re doing so more sharply than people in other big cities. In June, spending at full-service restaurants was down 9 percent compared with the prior year, a steeper drop than in places like Atlanta, Boston and Miami.

The same pattern shows up in categories like apparel and entertainment, pointing to a local slowdown even as spending elsewhere holds steadier.

Housing construction is slowing
Predictably, with uncertainty looming, the real estate picture is starting to shift.

“We still have a shortage, meaning there is more demand for housing than supply,” Lee said. “And with that, the prices go up.”

But inventory is climbing, a sign that fewer buyers are competing for homes. At the same time, new apartment construction is tapping the brakes — about 8,000 units went up in the first quarter of 2025, well below the usual 12,000 to 16,000 seen in recent quarters.

[Anonymous]

Life in 2025 is very normal in my McLean neighborhood, very similar to last year.

[Anonymous]

It’s going to be bad everywhere real soon, for a change DC is just the bellwether

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Life in 2025 is very normal in my McLean neighborhood, very similar to last year.

Congrats on your insulation, I guess? I don’t even live in the DC area—I’m about three hours away—but I was at a sports competition for my kid recently and overheard conversations among parents from a NoVa team about widespread layoffs among their neighborhood friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Life in 2025 is very normal in my McLean neighborhood, very similar to last year.

Congrats on your insulation, I guess? I don’t even live in the DC area—I’m about three hours away—but I was at a sports competition for my kid recently and overheard conversations among parents from a NoVa team about widespread layoffs among their neighborhood friends.

The vast majority of people who live in McLean have a lot of $$$ to weather the bad economy. It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Went to The Home Depot over the weekend. On Saturday afternoon, it was pretty empty. Strolled through the appliance section - only the cheapest possible brands. Nothing in the nursery in terms of trees. Maybe everybody is on vacation, maybe it is the economy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went to The Home Depot over the weekend. On Saturday afternoon, it was pretty empty. Strolled through the appliance section - only the cheapest possible brands. Nothing in the nursery in terms of trees. Maybe everybody is on vacation, maybe it is the economy.

Remodeling is way down because of the economic uncertainty and some people are probably worried about ICE hanging around Home Depot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Life in 2025 is very normal in my McLean neighborhood, very similar to last year.

Congrats on your insulation, I guess? I don’t even live in the DC area—I’m about three hours away—but I was at a sports competition for my kid recently and overheard conversations among parents from a NoVa team about widespread layoffs among their neighborhood friends.

The vast majority of people who live in McLean have a lot of $$$ to weather the bad economy. It is what it is.

Plenty of negatively impacted federal workers/fed contractors/fed adjacents in McLean. Unfortunately the PP doesn't understand that their anecdote are not actual data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Life in 2025 is very normal in my McLean neighborhood, very similar to last year.

Congrats on your insulation, I guess? I don’t even live in the DC area—I’m about three hours away—but I was at a sports competition for my kid recently and overheard conversations among parents from a NoVa team about widespread layoffs among their neighborhood friends.

The vast majority of people who live in McLean have a lot of $$$ to weather the bad economy. It is what it is.

Plenty of negatively impacted federal workers/fed contractors/fed adjacents in McLean. Unfortunately the PP doesn't understand that their anecdote are not actual data.

Source?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Life in 2025 is very normal in my McLean neighborhood, very similar to last year.

Congrats on your insulation, I guess? I don’t even live in the DC area—I’m about three hours away—but I was at a sports competition for my kid recently and overheard conversations among parents from a NoVa team about widespread layoffs among their neighborhood friends.

The vast majority of people who live in McLean have a lot of $$$ to weather the bad economy. It is what it is.

Plenty of negatively impacted federal workers/fed contractors/fed adjacents in McLean. Unfortunately the PP doesn't understand that their anecdote are not actual data.

Source?

LOL ! Thank you !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Life in 2025 is very normal in my McLean neighborhood, very similar to last year.

Congrats on your insulation, I guess? I don’t even live in the DC area—I’m about three hours away—but I was at a sports competition for my kid recently and overheard conversations among parents from a NoVa team about widespread layoffs among their neighborhood friends.

The vast majority of people who live in McLean have a lot of $$$ to weather the bad economy. It is what it is.

Plenty of negatively impacted federal workers/fed contractors/fed adjacents in McLean. Unfortunately the PP doesn't understand that their anecdote are not actual data.

Source?

That there are two news articles from just this week covering the event at the McLean Community Center featuring 11 fired federal workers sharing their tale of economic woes following the mass layoffs. That might give you a clue that the anecdote about McLean not having any negative impacts is false.
https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/08/01/fired-federal-workers-voice-frustrations-in-walkinshaw-hosted-roundtable/

https://patch.com/virginia/mclean/amp/32772836/former-feds-share-hardships-concerns-after-trumps-mass-layoffs

[Anonymous]

Ah…McLean will hurt the most. I personally know plenty of few highly paid Fed contractors (or company owners) who are sweating it. The spigot of Fed $$ is getting tightened up so mortgages and expenses on those $4m homes are starting to sting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ah…McLean will hurt the most. I personally know plenty of few highly paid Fed contractors (or company owners) who are sweating it. The spigot of Fed $$ is getting tightened up so mortgages and expenses on those $4m homes are starting to sting.

Based on 2023 Census estimates, approximately 80,000 people — or 13% of the county’s entire workforce — are employed by the federal government, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority reported this spring. And that doesn’t include Fed adjacent workers. It’s pretty ignorant to assume that none of those people live in McLean.