And they continued to add jobs, too, just at a slower pace than their neighbors outside the Capital Beltway. The District added jobs at a 0.8 percent pace, Montgomery added jobs at a 0.5 rate, Prince George's at 2 percent, and Arlington at 2.8 percent.
The percentages in the outer counties look large, in part, because they start from such a small base, and thus adding a few thousand jobs can make for extraordinary additions in percentage terms. For example, Fairfax County actually added 21,700 jobs, while Prince William added 6,900 jobs and Loudoun gained 5,700.
Much of the employment boom comes from new construction, such as these townhouses in Ashburn.
(Tracy A. Woodward -- The Washington Post)
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Over time, however, the outer suburbs may catch up, according to Anirban Basu, chief executive of Sage Policy Group Inc., an economic consulting firm in Baltimore. Job growth in the city's distant suburbs is part of a long pattern. In the 1950s and '60s, Arlington shifted from being almost exclusively a residential community to a place with a hefty job base. Fairfax and Montgomery did the same in the 1970s and 1980s. Loudoun, Prince William, and Frederick counties are in that process now.
"Jobs follow people," said Robert E. Lang, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, which is in Alexandria. "First people move to a place, then retail follows, and then jobs follow retail."
So far, much of Prince William's job growth has been concentrated in longtime staples. In 2003, construction employment rose by a fifth, to 12,000 jobs. Its retail employment grew by 8 percent, to almost 17,000 jobs. Together those two businesses accounted for almost half the gain in jobs in 2003, according to the Prince William Department of Economic Development.
"Like most suburban counties, Prince William built its economy over the last 30 years on residential spending," said Stephen S. Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University. "So retail is very strong, and Prince William has an enormous concentration of jobs in retail, most in the range of $20,000 to $30,000 a year."
But with wealthier residents moving to Prince William, the employment picture has been evolving, according to economists. "Now all of a sudden the residents moving there are more affluent, and they're more attractive to other kinds of companies locating there," Fuller said.
Economists point to technology companies such as ProLogic, which makes battlefield display panels that let soldiers monitor battles in real time. Last year it hired 26 people, for a total of 47 in the Prince William office. By the time its new building opens in the spring, it may have as many 70 people, most of them making $55,000 a year or more, ProLogic's Maguire said.
"That's what we call 'Tysons Corner wages,' " Maguire said.
Staff writer Michael Barbaro contributed to this report.
