Employment prospects in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area are generally very good. The unemployment rate for the District of Columbia proper is higher than the national rate, but rates for the surrounding cities and counties are lower. The Federal government and businesses that depend on Federal contracts are the major employers. The Washington Area, and the District of Columbia especially, is experiencing a disproportionately larger decline in Federal employment than the United States as a whole as the Federal government continues to downsize. This is happening as a significant downsizing of the District of Columbia government also proceeds.
Prospects are particularly good in the fields of computer technology, security.