Career Advice & News Center

The job market has been closely watched by government officials, economic analysts and the general public as everyone looks for signs of a turnaround. While February numbers showed that there was little change in national unemployment - staying at 9.7 percent for the second month in a row - some areas flourished more than others. Michigan, which has the highest unemployment rate in the country, dropped two percentage points in January with more auto workers retaining their jobs and added positions in manufacturing. However, Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland all saw an increase in job losses for the month of January. Despite these losses economic analysts are still optimistic.

Residents of Washington, D.C., saw a one percentage point increase in the jobless rate during the month of January, according to the Washington Post. Similarly, Maryland and Virginia saw the same rise. However, economic analysts believe that this could be due to residents in the area looking for jobs again, showing that there could be faith in the market.

"Maryland, Virginia and the District are where the labor market is advanced in terms of recovery. Many people are beginning their job search, and as they begin, that rate gets higher," Anirban Basu, chairman and chief executive of Sage Policy Group, a Baltimore economic and policy consulting firm, told the Post.

Analysts believe that the increase suggests that individuals who have been out of the job market for a while are noticing that the region's economy is improving, leading them to begin to look for careers again. Additionally, the declining national rate may indicate that unemployed individuals have become frustrated with their job search and don't have the incentive to look for employment.

"You do have people coming back thinking things are loosening up and they might get something," Ann D. Lang, senior economist at the Virginia Employment Commission, told the news provider.

Although the unemployment rate experienced an increase, Washington, D.C., saw the highest instance of job creation, with the addition of 6,700 positions - most of which were in the federal government, according to the news provider.

Economic analysts believe that while this may be good news, the public should still brace themselves for a slow recovery. While the area continues to make strides towards a turnaround, there is still a lot of work to be done.

"If we have any optimism we've got to keep it tempered, because it is a modest increase -- but it's a step in the right direction," Tim Bibo Jr., a research analyst at the Maryland Governor's Workforce Investment Board, told the Post.

Many analysts attribute the loss of jobs to the extreme winter weather, where areas such as Washington, D.C. and Virginia got excessive amounts of snow, according to the Financial Times.

On a national level, the economy is showing more signs of positive strides. Although unemployment may have risen in 30 states, this is still an improvement from the month of December. According to CNN Money, approximately 43 states saw their jobless rates increase in December. These statistics, coupled with the three percentage point drop in the national unemployment rate, indicate that the country is headed in the right direction.

One of the biggest employers that could bring jobs to the D.C. area is the U.S. Census Bureau. According to Fox News, the Bureau plans to hire more than 800,000 people to conduct their decennial survey. While these will be temporary jobs, the positions will help workers boost experience and also offer a paycheck for those who have been unemployed for a while.