WASHINGTON — The Washington metro area’s unemployment rate posted a healthy drop in December, falling to 3.8 percent from 4.1 percent in November.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics data are based on the Washington metropolitan statistical area, and the unemployment rate is not seasonally adjusted.
The Washington region also added 4,300 jobs in December.
Washington’s unemployment rate in December remains one of the 10 lowest rate among the 50 largest metro areas. The unemployment rates in Minneapolis and Denver each fell to just 3.1 percent.
In Baltimore, the December unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, down from 5.2 percent in November.
In the past year, Washington’s nonfarm payrolls have grown by 68,500, to just shy of 3.225 million at the end of December, for an annual job growth rate of 2.2 percent.
Among all metro areas, Fargo, North Dakota retained the title of lowest unemployment rate in the nation, at just 2.4 percent in December.
See the Bureau of Labor Statistics list of unemployment rates for all 387 metro areas.
