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Northern Virginia closed 2025 with 57,728 residents unemployed, nearly 44% more than the 40,203 recorded a year earlier.

Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released Feb. 6 also showed total employment in the region falling 1.8% to 1,772,238. The unemployment rate climbed from 2.2% in December 2024 to 3.3% in December 2025.

The increase reflected a broader slowdown across the Washington metropolitan area. In December, 133,530 residents throughout the metro area were seeking work, a 39% increase from the previous year.

Regional employment declined from 3.55 million in December 2024 to 3.49 million a year later. The Washington area’s unemployment rate rose from 2.7% to 3.8%.

Joblessness increased across much of the country during the same period. Preliminary figures showed December unemployment rates were higher than a year earlier in 255 of the nation’s 387 metropolitan areas. Rates fell in 110 areas and remained unchanged in 22.

The national non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate reached 4.1%, up from 3.8% a year earlier. Among metropolitan areas, 223 posted rates below the national figure, 155 were above it and nine matched it.

Decatur and Huntsville, Alabama, shared the country’s lowest metropolitan unemployment rate at 1.9%. El Centro, California, had the highest at 18.6%.

Among the 56 metropolitan areas with at least 1 million residents, Honolulu recorded the lowest rate at 2.1%, while Fresno, California, posted the highest at 8.2%.

Virginia officials are expected to release year-end 2025 unemployment rates for individual localities shortly.