Delaware’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in March was 3.9%, down from 4% in February 2024.
The Delaware Department of Labor reported 20,000 unemployed Delawareans in March compared to 19,500 in March 2023.
The nation’s jobless rate was 3.8% in March, down from 3.9% in February. In March 2023, the U.S. unemployment rate was 3.5%, while the Delaware rate was 3.9%.
Delaware’s jobless rate has not been below 4% since 2019.
In March 2024, seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment was 488,500, up from 487,900 in February 2024. Since March 2023, Delaware’s total nonfarm jobs have increased by 5,000, up 1%. Nationwide, jobs during that period increased by 1.9%.
Over the past several months the gap between the Delaware and national unemployment rate has narrowed, as the Delaware figure dropped and the national number rose.
This comes despite Delaware seeing a slowdown in job growth after a strong comeback from the Covid-19 pandemic.
As recently as January 2023, jobs had increased by 18,000 over the previous year. That figure has slowed down to 5,000, a number that the Labor Department sees as a more normal rate of job growth.
A drop of 2,500 jobs in the professional and business services category and smaller losses in construction, durable goods manufacturing, transportation, and utilities contributed to the slowdown.
Private education and health saw the biggest gain, with an additional 3,500 jobs, with government adding 3,000 jobs. A lack of applicants had held down growth in government and other categories coming out of the pandemic.
