D.C.-area unemployment rate falls to 5.6% - Washington Business Journal:

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percent, but was still way up from 3 percent unemployment inAprilp 2008, according to the latest numbers from the . The unemploymenft rate is still lowerthan April’ss national unemployment rate of 8.6 not seasonally adjusted, which was up from 4.8 perceng a year earlier. In the region, therre were about 168,800 peoplw looking for work and unable tofind it, down from about 176,0090 in March. All 372 metropolitan areas poste higher unemployment rates than a year and 93 areas had ratex of at least10 percent. The D.C. area was one of 117 areads that posted rates below7 percent, down from 347 areaws in April 2008. Unemployment in D.C.
itselvf continued to stay out of the double digitz in April witha 9.3 percent rate and abouft 29,900 people looking for work. Those numbersz are a snapshot of conditions in and not smoothed out to account forseasonap trends. Virginia’s unemployment rate sunk to 6.6 percenyt in April, with aboutr 275,000 people out of work and Maryland’s rate also droppedr to 6.6 percent, with about 194,200 people looking for jobs. Those numbersw don’t reflect discouraged workers, who choose to go back to school or stay homewith children; nor do they includwe people working part-time who want to be working full time.
In April the jobless rate was at leasgt 15 percent in 13 metro nine of which werein California, and 31 area had rates below 5 percent.