Montgomery County's low unemployment rate doesn't mean jobs were created in the county

Montgomery County is again touting its low unemployment rate, reported by the Maryland DLLR as 3.8% in August, according to an official County press release. While it's always good news that residents are employed, and it would be fine if the press release stopped there, unfortunately it goes further.

The release proceeds to give credit for the increase to the County's "Six-Point Economic Plan designed to make the County even more competitive in business attraction and job growth."

Whoops. Unemployment rate has absolutely nothing to do with the county's job creation rate, which was far behind Northern Virginia counties and the District of Columbia during the same period. Add the qualifier of high-wage jobs, and MoCo's share plunges even further. And speaking of "business attraction," the County hasn't "attracted" a single major corporate headquarters to relocate here in over a decade.

Montgomery County's low unemployment is due to the many jobs being created outside of its borders in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Arlington counties and the District, which its residents travel to each morning on the congested roads of our unfinished highway system.

In fact, Montgomery County's 3.8% unemployment rate itself isn't special in the region at all. Arlington County (2.7%), the City of Alexandria (3.2%) and Loudoun County (3.4%) all beat MoCo in August, while cleaning our clocks in job creation. Those numbers come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as of September 30, 2015.

Another "Four Pinocchios"/"Pants on Fire" fact check rating for Montgomery County's political machine. We may have low unemployment, but our County's economic development remains moribund.