Black workers in Washington, D.C., are facing an unemployment rate above 10%. The city now has the highest overall unemployment rate in the country, and recent federal workforce cuts are adding pressure to an economy that has long relied on government jobs.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the District’s unemployment rate rose to 6.4% in the first quarter of 2026. This was higher than any state’s rate or the District’s rate itself, and the only rate above 6%. Nationally, unemployment was 4.3%.
The situation was even more difficult for Black workers in Washington.
In the first quarter, Black unemployment in D.C. was 10.1%. Only Michigan was higher at 10.5%. Both were well above the national Black unemployment rate of 7.2%, and they were the only places where Black unemployment topped 10%.
The gap between Black and white unemployment remains large, even as unemployment has risen for other groups. In the first quarter, Black Washingtonians were 2.6 times more likely to be unemployed than white workers. Nationally, the Black-white unemployment ratio was 2.1-to-1.
This disparity is not new. In 2025, D.C.’s Black-white unemployment ratio was also 2.6-to-1, while the national ratio was 2-to-1.
However, Washington’s overall job market has kept getting worse.
In 2025, D.C. already had the highest average unemployment rate in the country at 5.9%, compared to 4.3% nationally. In the first three months of 2026, it rose by another half point to 6.4%.
The Economic Policy Institute says that federal workforce cuts are one reason for Washington’s rising unemployment.
“Attacks on federal employment continued through the first quarter of 2026,” EPI reported, saying the reductions contributed to elevated unemployment in Washington and worsening Black employment nationally.
Another EPI analysis released in April found that the impact spread across the entire Washington metro area, affecting more than just federal employees.
According to EPI, federal jobs in the DMV — which covers Washington, Maryland, and Virginia — dropped by over 53,800, or 14.2%, from the end of 2024 to the end of 2025. Companies that rely on federal contracts also cut jobs.
The region’s employment rate dropped by 3.2 percentage points from December 2024 to December 2025, while the national rate fell by only 0.4 points, according to the institute.
Every group EPI studied in the Washington area saw their employment rate drop by at least 2 percentage points. Black workers had the biggest drop, with their employment rate falling by 5.9 points.
These regional findings help explain D.C.’s 10.1% Black unemployment rate. Federal job losses are happening in a metro area where Black workers have seen the biggest drop in employment, and where businesses tied to federal contracts and programs are also cutting jobs.
Federal job cuts have affected more than just Black workers. In 2025, D.C.’s white unemployment rate rose by 1.5 percentage points, which EPI said was “largely to federal workforce reductions.”
These numbers raise a bigger question for Washington. For generations, government jobs have offered stability and economic opportunities to Black residents.
Federal jobs have been especially important because they offer salaries, benefits, and career growth. These jobs have given Black workers access to professional and middle-class roles that were often harder to reach in the private sector.
But the current downturn goes beyond just federal jobs. Losing tens of thousands of these positions also hurts contractors and businesses that rely on government spending and federal workers’ income.
EPI found that companies with financial ties to the federal government are also cutting jobs. This shows that the economic impact is spreading beyond just federal agencies.
The data also show that these job market problems affect more than just Black residents in D.C.
Between late 2024 and early 2026, overall unemployment in D.C. rose by 1.1 percentage points. White unemployment rose by 1.7 percentage points, and Hispanic unemployment by 1.1 percentage points. EPI found almost no change in Black unemployment during this period, suggesting it was already high before the recent downturn.
Economists say this distinction matters because unemployment numbers alone do not prove that federal job cuts caused D.C.’s Black unemployment rate to hit 10.1%. However, EPI’s regional analysis found major federal job losses occurring alongside a 5.9-point drop in Black employment in the DMV.
D.C. also had the highest estimated unemployment rate for Asian American and Pacific Islander workers at 5.9%. However, EPI warned that the sample size of AAPI workers in the District was too small to produce a precise estimate.
EPI’s racial unemployment numbers are estimates based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data. They combine Local Area Unemployment Statistics with a year of Current Population Survey data and use national data to help stabilize estimates for smaller groups.
Still, these numbers mean Washington now has two unwanted distinctions: the highest overall unemployment rate in the country and a Black unemployment rate above 10%.
EPI warned that other communities that rely on federal jobs, programs, or spending could face similar problems in the future.
“Trump’s destructive agenda has disproportionately damaged the Washington, D.C. regional economy,” said Nina Mast, EPI economic analyst and co-author of the report. “But other localities across the country — particularly those with large federal workforces, those that are heavily dependent on federal programs, and those with sizeable immigrant populations — are far from immune. Many could suffer as much, if not more, from the Trump administration’s actions.”
