New data from the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) is showing troubling trends in NoVA unemployment rates. For March 2025, VEC reported that 4,929 Arlington residents were unemployed. That equals a 60 percent year-over-year increase.
Fairfax County rates were also up almost 8 percent month-over-month, and 37 percent year-over-year, FFXNow reported.
The numbers seem to indicate the impact of the Trump administration’s efforts to dramatically scale back the federal workforce. Rates are up across NoVA, despite regional efforts to re-employ affected workers.
Data shows 20,836 Fairfax County residents (3.2 percent) were unemployed in March. That’s up from 19,315 in February and 15,171 last March. Unemployment rates stood at 3.1 percent in Loudoun County, 3.2 percent in Arlington and Alexandria, and 3.3 percent in Prince William County.
Statewide, unemployment rates are also on the rise. A total of 157,134 Virginians were seeking work in March. That’s up from 151,323 in February and 124,266 a year ago — a 26.5 percent year-over-year increase.
Unemployment Rates Data
To be counted as unemployed in the VEC data, an individual must have had no employment, been available for work, and made an effort to find employment for four weeks leading up to the reference week.
Data is taken from surveys and unemployment claims recorded during the monthly reference week, which is usually the week including the 12th day of each month. Statistics are an estimate of persons by place of residence, not jobs or where a person works.
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
