Did the MD unemployment rate rise or fall in the month of April?
After months creeping up, Maryland’s unemployment rate fell by a tenth of a percentage point in April, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. The state’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.8 percent in April, down from 6.9 percent — a nearly 17-year high — in March. Maryland lost around 6,000 jobs during April, compared with losing more than 12,000 jobs in March. Maryland’s unemployment rate of 6.8 percent in April is up from 4 percent during the same month a year ago. The national unemployment rate rose from 8.5 percent in March to 8.9 percent in April. California, holding an unemployment rate of 11 percent, lost 63,700 jobs in April — the most of all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Michigan, battered by the struggling automotive industry, still holds the largest unemployment rate in the U.S., at 12.9 percent. Washington, D.C.’s unemployment rate is 9.9 percent. h
