Life in the Bubble

The unemployment rate in the actual District of Columbia is a bit above the national average, but most of the movers and shakers live in the suburbs and as Lydia DePillis observes life is sweet for professionals working in the capital of the mightiest empire the world has ever known:

September's unemployment statistics are out, and the numbers for our little corner of the world look fantastic: We've dropped below six percent, thankyou very much! At 5.9 percent, the D.C./Maryland/Virginia/West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area has the lowest unemployment rate of any large urban area in the country.

All around the country the places that are doing well have health/education/government work. After DC, the top MSAs are Oklahoma City, Minneapolis/St Paul, and Austin—all state capitols.