Area Jobless Rate Hits Highest Level in 6 Years; Sharp Increase in Number of Unemployed Persons in Suburbs Pushes Figure to 4.0 Percent
A sharp increase in the number of unemployed persons in Washington's suburbs pushed the metropolitan-area unemployment rate to 4.0 percent in December, its highest level in six years, according to figures released yesterday.</br></br>Unemployment in the District fell significantly, from 6.9 percent in November to 6.5 percent. But officials said the drop mostly reflected Christmas-season hiring, not a turnaround in the troubled economy.</br></br>Christmastime hiring in the entire area was only about half what it has been over the last five years. From September to December 1990, 10,800 jobs were added in the retail trade, according to Richard Groner of the D.C. Department of Employment Services, which compiles the area statistics. Over the previous five years, the average increase in jobs during the same period was 21,000.</br></br>In Maryland, which also released its unemployment rate yesterday, joblessness went up from 5.3 percent in November to 6.0 percent in December. Officials of the state Department of Economic and Employment Development said jobs were lost in the construction, auto-manufacturing, restaurant and hotel sectors, among others.</br></br>The Virginia unemployment rate, released earlier this week, was 4.9 percent in December, up from 4.5 percent the previous month.