Wednesday, April 11, 2012
by J.D. Harrison
The Washington region's unemployment rate fell to 5.5% in February from a seasonally adjusted 5.6% the month before, one of the lowest levels among the nation's largest metropolitan areas and well below the national jobless rate, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.
The latest numbers suggest that the area's recovery is building momentum, although slowly. The national rate stood at 8.3% in February and fell slightly last month to 8.2%. Nearly 3 million people were employed in the region in February, according to the report, while nearly 157,000 were jobless. This time last year, 2.89 million people in the area had jobs, while more than 177,000 were looking.
Employers in the region added 11,900 jobs in February, led by increases in education and health services (5,600 jobs). The leisure/hospitality and information sectors each added 1,100 jobs.
The losers in February were retailers and trade (6,400 jobs lost) and technology and utilities firms (7,000 lost).
By J.D. Harrison