The Washington region was among 386 of 389 metropolitan areas nationally to see lower year-over-year joblessness in March, according to figures reported April 27 by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
With 3,396,080 in the civilian workforce and 120,740 looking for jobs, the Washington region’s unemployment rate of 3.6 percent was unchanged from a month before and down from 5.3 percent a year ago.
Nationally, the 3.8-percent unemployment rate of March was down from 6.2 percent a year before. Among metro areas, 229 had rates below the national average, 147 higher and 13 the same.
Among all metro areas, the lowest jobless rate was found in Logan (Utah) at 1.7 percent, followed by Burlington (Vt.), Elkhart (Ind.) and Provo (Utah) at 1.8 percent each. El Centro (Calif.) had the highest rate at 12.3 percent.
Among the 51 metro areas with a population of a million or more, the lowest jobless rate was found in Salt Lake City (2.1 percent), the highest in Cleveland (6.7 percent).
Nationally, 108 metro areas had jobless rates of less than 3 percent, while two areas had rates topping 10 percent.
Non-farm payroll employment was up in 147 metro areas and largely on par with a year before in the remainder.
Over the past year, the New York City metro area regained the largest number of jobs, at 496,300, followed by Los Angeles (390,800) and Dallas-Fort Worth (267,800). On a percentage basis, the biggest gainers in payroll jobs over the one-year period were Atlantic City (up 12.3 percent), Las Vegas (12.1 percent) and Flagstaff, Ariz. (10.2 percent).
Across Virginia, the jobless rate of 2.7 percent in March was up a tick from a month before but down from 4.5 percent in March 2021. The most recent figure represents 4,339,357 in the civilian workforce and 117,570 looking for jobs.
Among Virginia metro areas outside the Washington region, joblessness for the month ranged from 2.3 percent in Winchester to 3.1 percent in Hampton Roads.