The unemployment rate in the metropolitan D.C. region was 6.6% in October down from 6.9% in September. However, the jobless rate is still much higher than the 2.9% D.C. metro-area unemployment rate a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
October is the most recent month data are available for metropolitan areas.
Unemployment rates in October were higher than a year ago in 384 of the 389 metropolitan statistical areas tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but there was continued improvement in month-over-month unemployment numbers.
The D.C. region gained or regained almost 36,000 jobs in October, though the civilian labor force is still down by more than 116,000 jobs from a year ago.
Baltimore’s unemployment rate rose in October, to 7.2%, up from 7.1% in September. In October 2019, the unemployment rate in the Baltimore area was 3.4%
The highest unemployment rates remain in areas heavily dependent on tourism. Kahului, Hawaii, had the highest October unemployment rate, at 22.5%.
Among cities with a population of 1 million or more, Las Vegas had the highest unemployment rate at 13.8%.
The lowest jobless rate in October among big cities was in Salt Lake City, at 4.1%.
The lowest October unemployment rates among all metropolitan areas were in Ames, Iowa, and Burlington, Vermont, at 1.9% and 2.1% respectively.
