According to a forecast by Delta Associates, Washington, D.C. jobs are expected to grow within the next year, followed by increased growth in the next few years.

Washington, D.C. lost many jobs in 2009.

According to Washington Business Journal.com, the Washington area saw payroll employment decline by 29,200 jobs in the year ending January 2010, a 1 percent decline.

That compares favorably to a national decline of 3 percent during the same period. Washington ended the year with 2.9 million payroll jobs, the fourth-largest job base among metro areas, behind New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Three major sectors added jobs in 2009. Government, education and health and leisure and hospitality added a combined 13,200 new jobs.

“The region continues to grow high-end jobs even as it sheds low-end jobs,” the quarterly Delta Associates report says of the Washington market. “However, it is government hiring, rather than private sector activity, that is generating most of the job creation.”

Looking ahead, Delta forecasts the Washington region will add 24,200 payroll jobs in 2010. Job growth will accelerate with 34,900 new jobs in 2011 and another 42,400 new jobs in 2012, it says.

While final numbers have not been tallied, Delta Associates estimates Washington’s gross regional product shrank by 0.5 percent in 2009. It predicts GRP growth of 2.7 percent this year.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 at 11:19 pm and is filed under Jobs, Washington D.C.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.