D.C. Unemployment Continues to Soar

The District's unemployment rate has jumped to 9.3 percent, up from 8.8 in December, according to the D.C. Department of Employment Services. The increase in unemployment in the District continues to reflect the national trend: the US rate was 7.6% in January 2009, up from 7.2% in December 2008, the agency said in a news release.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, D.C.'s unemployment was at 8 percent in November, up from 7.3 in October and 5.7 a year earlier.

D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi has said unemployment would reach 9.8 percent, the highest rate since the early 1980s, when it reached 11 percent.