Unemployment rates creep up in Md., DC; hold steady in Va.

In this photo made on Wednesday, March 30, 2016, display signs designed to attract employment seekers line the booths of job recruiters at a Job Fair in Pittsburgh. The unemployment rate dipped to a low 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday, March 10, 2017. More people began looking for jobs, increasing the proportion of Americans working or looking for work to the highest level in nearly a year. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)(AP/Keith Srakocic)

WASHINGTON — The unemployment rate fell nationwide to 4.4 percent in April, but jobless rates rose slightly in both Maryland and the District.

Virginia’s unemployment rate was unchanged.

The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment rates were unchanged in the majority of states last month.

In the District, the April unemployment rate was 5.9 percent, up from 5.8 percent in March, but down from 6.1 percent a year earlier.

Maryland’s unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent, from 4.2 percent in March, but was down from 4.4 percent in April 2016. Virginia’s unemployment rate last month was unchanged at 3.8 percent, and down from 4 percent a year ago.

Colorado held on to the title of the state with the lowest unemployment rate last month, reaching a record low 2.3 percent. Hawaii and North Dakota had unemployment rates of 2.7 percent in April.

New Mexico and Alaska have the nation’s highest state unemployment rates, at 6.7 percent and 6.6 percent respectively last month.

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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