The federal government’s presence in the D.C. area has decreased within the first two months of the Trump administration due to their hiring freeze. Between January and February, the area has lost an estimated 2,700 jobs according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Fluctuations in federal unemployment isn’t unheard of during a presidential transition, as past administrations have also temporarily ceased federal hiring only to later grow the bureaucracy at a later time. Though local economists cannot definitely pinpoint the hiring freeze as the cause of the dip of employment, the District proper has been affected more so than the suburban periphery.

According to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, the D.C. metropolitan area had added 62,400 jobs over a one-year period, which ended last month. The unemployment rates in both Maryland and D.C. are steady, at 4.2 percent and 5.7 percent respectively. The unemployment in Virginia experienced a slight drop, bringing it down to 3.9 percent.

Despite President Trump’s is adamant to reduce the State Department and Environmental Protection Agency, some economists hope that an increase in defense spending will bring new business to the federal contractors. However, it is likely that D.C. will not directly benefit from this proposed $54 billion increase, but rather shipyards and warehouses in places like Texas or Virginia Beach will probably profit.

An analysis completed by the Stephen S. Fuller Institute at George Mason University hypothesized that the president’s current budget proposal could take an estimated $2.3 billion in federal salaries out of the economy and a regional loss of at least 20,000 federal jobs.