BOOMTOWN: Washington Area Unemployment Dips to 5.0 Percent

The Washington D.C. metro area’s unemployment rate dipped to 5.0 percent in April according to statistics released today by the Labor Department. The areas immediately surrounding the U.S. Capitol including Washington, Arlington, VA, and Alexandria, VA saw unemployment drop from 5.2 percent in March to 5.0 percent in April.

Unemployment dipped below 5% in the neighboring Maryland area including Bethesda, Rockville, and Frederick.

Earlier this month, the Department of Labor reported that 20 of the 22 Washington-area counties saw their unemployment drop over the past year. Of those 22 counties, only the District of Columbia itself has an unemployment rate above the national average of 7.6 percent. 

According to the statistics released today, D.C. saw its unemployment numbers fall from 8.3% all the way to 8.0% from March to April of 2013.

Last month, the Washington Post linked the Washington Area’s strong jobs data to a leisure and hospitality industry boom, noting a flourishing bar, restaurant, and theatre scene. 

In January, Wynton Hall of Breitbart News reported that Washington had passed Silicon Valley for the Highest Median Income in the U.S.:

With a median household income of $119,134, the Census Bureau reports that Loudoun County, Virginia now occupies the number one spot for the highest median U.S. income. The number two position belongs to Fairfax County, Virginia at $105,797. Arlington, Virginia comes in third at $100,735.    

Hall also noted that seven of the ten counties with the highest household incomes neighbor our nation’s Capitol. 

Fox News has run a series of “Hannity” specials under the banner “BOOMTOWN,” featuring Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon and Government Accountability Institute President and Co-founder Peter Schweizer. Their argument is that Washington D.C. is insulated and inoculated from the Obama economy because of cronyism that keeps the area from feeling true competition.