WASHINGTON — Ahead of Friday’s July jobs report, the Labor Department has released June unemployment data for metropolitan areas, and it shows a jump in jobless rates for both Washington and Baltimore.
The D.C. area’s unemployment rate in June was 3.7 percent, up from 3.2 percent in May, although lower than the 3.9 percent unemployment rate in June 2017.
The Baltimore metro area’s unemployment rate in June was 4.6 percent, up from 4.0 percent in May, and higher than Baltimore’s 4.5 percent unemployment rate a year earlier.
The Washington area’s civilian labor force totaled 3,464,000 in June, 47,500 more than a year earlier, for an annual job growth rate of 1.4 percent.
Among cities with a metro population of 1 million or more, Minneapolis had the lowest unemployment rate in June, at 2.8 percent. Cleveland had the highest, at 6.1 percent.
Among all metropolitan statistical areas, Ames, Iowa, had the lowest unemployment rate in June, at 2.0 percent. Yuma, Arizona, had the highest, at 19.1 percent.
