For more than three decades, the Council of Governments has measured economic growth through its Regional Economic Monitoring System (REMS) reports, tracking job growth, unemployment, inflation, housing production, and more. This year, the information has been made available as an online, interactive dashboard, which allows users to view current and historical regional data as well as some data at the city and county level.

In addition to monitoring metropolitan Washington’s overall economic health, the REMS dashboard also helps show how recent changes to the federal workforce are impacting the region. While noting that there is not yet a full picture of how many federal employees in the region have lost their jobs or left the workforce in recent months, there are some early indicators from the available data.

• According to new BLS data, in June 2025, there were 17,000 fewer federal jobs in the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) than in June 2024.
   
• For the region, the federal government subsector has lost more jobs over the past year than any other sector. This sets the region apart from the national trend, where federal jobs are also declining but are not the sector posting the highest reductions. Nationally, the manufacturing sector lost the most jobs from June 2024 to June 2025.
   
• The most recent unemployment rate data show Washington MSA’s rate at 3.6 percent in May. While still lower than the national average, the MSA's unemployment rate is almost one percent higher than it was a year ago (2.7 percent).

View the interactive dashboard and monthly REMS report.