WASHINGTON — The majority of metropolitan areas across the country saw a drop in unemployment rates in January, but the D.C. area was not among them.
The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the national capital region’s unemployment rate in January rose to 4 percent, up from 3.6 percent in December. Despite the uptick, the rate of unemployment was still lower than the region’s 4.2 percent unemployment rate a year ago.
January unemployment rates fell in 205 of the nation’s 388 metropolitan areas, rose in 147 areas and were unchanged in 36.
Ames, Iowa, held on to the title of the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, at just 2.3 percent in January.
Among cities with a population of 1 million or more, the lowest unemployment rate title goes to Salt Lake City at 3 percent.
The highest unemployment rate among big cities was in Cleveland in January, at 6.6 percent.
