Washington Is the New Wall Street

• June 15th 2009

by Will Smith

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You’ve heard for months that the DC metro region’s economy has fared better than the rest of the country’s, but today the Wall Street Journal reported some hard employment numbers as evidence. From The Journal:

At least there’s one place in America that’s wearing like Teflon through the recession: Washington, D.C. Most corners of the economy may be struggling, but in the nation’s capital it’s boom times, baby.

According to new data, the area’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.6% in April from 5.9% in March. This is the second consecutive month of improvement for Washingtonians, and it’s leagues from the national unemployment rate, which hit 9.4% in May.

Separately, Reuters reports that among new college grads Washington is the new Wall Street. Thanks to a damaged reputation and diminished job opportunities, Wall Street is not enticing ambitious grads like it used to. The DC area, on the other hand, is seeing a surge in popularity due to its opportunities (stimulus money, anyone?) and the public service bent of this year’s class. “You may see a whole generation of some of the very best students that decide to do public service rather than business,” said one job placement CEO.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/washington_is_the_new_wall_street/1028.