Job growth in Washington, D.C., has been weaker than in other major metropolitan regions, as government employment was cut following the global financial crisis and nationally public-sector hiring has not kept pace with the private sector. In 2014, the D.C. metro area saw net nonfarm payroll job growth of 19,000 — well below the historical average of 35,000 jobs — and overall office-using employment (including federal government employment) decreased by 12,000 jobs.

Federal employment in the Washington, D.C., metro area is very important for the health of the office market. DTZ reports 35 percent of the region’s economy comes directly or indirectly from the federal government.

But the pace of hiring has picked up significantly in 2015. For the 12 months through June 2015, the region saw employment tick up by 64,000 net new jobs. And the professional and business services sector has accounted for 20,000 of those net new jobs in the past 12 months.

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