Fairfax Shines In Jobs Report; County Challenges D.C.'s Leadership Of Area Economy
Fairfax County has emerged as a jobs powerhouse that far outpaces Montgomery County and now rivals the District as the region's economic core, according to a new federal report that details a profound shift in the Washington area over the past 15 years.</br></br>The region's lessening reliance on federal employment and the growth of the Northern Virginia economy are well-established trends, but Bureau of Labor Statistics economists who produced the report said they were stunned at how strong the movement has been.</br></br>"Fairfax County has separated itself from the rest of the crowd," said Diane Nilson, a bureau economist. "If you're looking across the board, you'd think that these others are doing fine, and they are. But what jumped out at us is how much Fairfax has separated itself from them."</br></br>The report is based on information that is more detailed and accurate than the agency's routine survey-based updates and that has never been used for in-depth analysis of the region.</br></br>In 1990, the report states, about 16 percent of the region's workers held federal jobs, the same percentage as worked in "professional and business services," the agency's category for most private-sector professional jobs, including lawyers, engineers and computer programmers.