Unemployment rate falls in D.C., Maryland and Virginia

Unemployment rates fell in the District, Maryland and Virginia last month, according to government data released Friday, marking the first regionwide decline in joblessness since the recession began.

The District, which has the highest unemployment rate among the nearly 20 cities and counties in the Washington metropolitan area, experienced the most dramatic drop, falling to 11 percent from 11.5 percent in March. Maryland's unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent from 7.7 percent and Virginia's fell to 7.2 percent from 7.3 percent, according to monthly data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Economists say the declines reflect a real drop in joblessness, not a repeat of a phenomenon that occurred for a brief time last year when many long-term unemployed people stopped looking for work, a shift that artificially lowered unemployment rates.

"This is the first time all three [the District, Maryland and Virginia] declined in tandem," said Sara Kline, an associate economist at Moody's Analytics who follows the region. "The labor force has been growing for the last couple of months and there's been a downtick in unemployment."

The drop in the District's unemployment rate was the second-steepest drop nationwide in April, trailing only South Carolina, where the jobless rate fell 0.6 percentage points. All three jurisdictions added jobs last month, according to the BLS data.

Officials at the District's Department of Employment Services said there has been steady job growth -- 4,700 jobs added in April and 9,600 in March. In April, officials said, the federal government added 2,300 jobs, and leisure and hospitality businesses added 1,800.

"To see four straight months of unemployment going down and over-the-year job growth -- these trends are going in the right direction," said Joseph P. Walsh Jr., director of employment services.

In Maryland, the ranks of the employed increased by 12,794. The leisure and hospitality sector added 7,100 jobs, and the education and health sectors gained 3,200.

"Things certainly are headed in the right direction," said Eric M. Seleznow, executive director of the Maryland Governor's Workforce Investment Board.

In Virginia, more than 28,000 jobs were added, 14,100 of them in Northern Virginia. "It was an encouraging month," said Ann D. Lang, senior economist at the Virginia Employment Commission.

The growing strength of the area job market bucks a national trend, according to economists. The U.S. unemployment rate in April rose 0.2 percentage points, to 9.9 percent, largely because thousands of discouraged workers had resumed job searches but not yet found work.

A survey conducted in April among recruiters in the Mid-Atlantic region, which includes the District, Maryland and Virginia, showed a dramatic increase in hiring in the first quarter. The recruiters, however, were cautious about increasing head count in the second quarter.

Nearly 40 percent of respondents said they hired in the first quarter, compared with about 25 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the survey conducted by DoubleStar, a West Chester, Pa.-based recruiting firm. Moreover, recruitment budgets increased 19 percent in the first quarter, compared with about 5 percent in the fourth quarter.

The reason most cited by the respondents for the staffing changes was an increase in business. However, when asked about their plans for the second quarter, only 25 percent said they intend to hire.

"Recoveries are never in a straight line -- they are jagged," said Harry Griendling, chief executive and founder of DoubleStar. "In the first quarter, people could see an increase in business, but in the second quarter uncertainty comes back into the market."

The BLS adjusted the District's March unemployment rate to 11.5 percent from the 11.6 percent rate initially reported in April. Virginia's March rate was adjusted to 7.3 percent from 7.4 percent.

Nationally, Michigan had the highest unemployment rate, 14 percent, and North Dakota had the lowest, 3.8 percent.