February’s unemployment rate in Delaware holds steady again.
For the third month in a row Delaware’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate sits at 3.6% - lower than the US unemployment rate of 4.1% and Delaware’s rate in February 2024, which was 3.9%.
The state also released more data about last year’s unemployment rate which was 3.7%, tying it with Idaho and Missouri for the 28th lowest in the nation.
It was also .3 percentage points lower than the U.S. annual average.
Area unemployment rates – which are not seasonally adjusted – were higher last month in New Castle County, Newark, Kent County and Sussex County. Only Wilmington was lower in February while Dover remained steady.
Meanwhile, seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment was up in February to 493,400 from 491,200 in January.
Since February 2024, Delaware’s total nonfarm jobs saw a net gain of 6,400, a 1.3% increase, matching the national rate during that same period.
Last month, the biggest job gains were in the Professional and Business Services industry as well as the Private Education and Health industry.
In February, the Labor Force Participation rate was a record low of 59%, and the number of residents in Delaware’s labor force fell by 300 to 506,500.
That’s the lowest level since April 2023, when 505,700 residents were either working or looking for work.
