Fairfax County's civilian workforce fell to 628,260 in August, its smallest count since April 2022, state data shows.

The Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement (VDWA) reported the figures on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Of the 628,260 people employed or seeking work, 607,418 held jobs and 20,842 were looking, FFXnow first reported Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The county's unemployment rate dipped to 3.3%, down from 3.4% a year earlier. But the improvement is misleading. The rate fell partly because the overall workforce shrank, not because more people found jobs.

The trend has been steady. At the start of the second Trump administration, Fairfax County's workforce averaged about 650,000. By May it had dropped to just under 634,000, according to FFXnow's review of state data. August's 628,260 marks another step down.

The jobless rate has sat at or above 3% for 15 months straight, excluding October 2025, when data went unreported during the federal government shutdown. Before May 2025, the rate had been below 3% for 44 of 45 consecutive months, bottoming at 1.8% in November 2021.

The D.C. metro area led the nation in year-over-year job losses, shedding 66,000 positions. That amounts to a 2% decline, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics nonfarm payroll figures released Wednesday, Sept. 30.

A Gallup and Greater Washington Community Foundation survey released Sept. 24 put numbers to the pressure. Among respondents in Fairfax County, Fairfax City and Falls Church, 49% said federal job cuts or furloughs had hurt their household.

Cost of living ranked even higher: 59% said it could push them to leave the region. The survey covered about 2,800 adults polled from Feb. 9 through April 6.

Amanda Nataro, a single mother of two who lost her job at USAID and took a pay cut after moving to academia, told FFXnow in a Sept. 29 report: "It wasn't just about our jobs being gone. It was really this awful ripple effect of all these lives and destinies really disrupted."

Not everyone reads the data as cause for alarm. David Remick, executive director of the Alexandria Arlington Workforce Development Council, said at a June 25 council meeting that "there are a lot of thought leaders pushing the gloom-and-doom thing," as FFXnow reported in July. At the time, the county's workforce stood about 16,000 higher than it does now.

All August figures are preliminary and subject to revision by the VDWA.