DC region unemployment rate falls to 3.6 percent

WASHINGTON — The Washington region’s unemployment rate improved considerably in April, falling from 4.1 percent in March to 3.6 percent last month, according to monthly data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Baltimore’s April unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, down from 4.9 percent in March and 5.1 percent a year earlier.

The unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

Unemployment rates fell in 269 metro areas in April, rose in 94 and were unchanged in 24. Among large cities, Austin had the lowest April unemployment rate, at just 2.9 percent. Chicago had the highest, at 6.2 percent.

Among all metropolitan areas, Ames, Iowa, had the nation’s lowest unemployment rate last month at just 2 percent.  El Centro, California, had the highest, at 20.1 percent.

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

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