By Logan B. Anderson

Maintaining its downward trajectory, Delaware’s unemployment rate fell again in March, down to 4.5%, according to the Delaware Department of Labor’s monthly report.

Delaware started 2022 with an unemployment rate of 4.8%. There were 22,600 unemployed Delawareans last month, compared to 28,500 in March 2021.

Nationally, the unemployment rate was 3.6% in March, down from 3.8% from February. Last March, the U.S. unemployment rate was 6% while Delaware’s was 5.8%.

In March of this year, seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment totaled 456,900 jobs in Delaware, up from 455,500 in February. Since March 2021, these positions have increased by a net gain of 9,100, a rise of 2.1%. Nationally, jobs during that period increased 4.6%.

Delawareans worked an average of 32.9 hours a week in March and earned $966.60. That’s works out to be $29.38 an hour, according to Department of Labor data scientists.

The leisure and hospitality industry again led job growth, adding 3,400 jobs over the year prior.

Wholesale and retail trade, as well as professional and business services, also grew by 2,300 and 1,200 jobs, respectively, compared to March 2021.

Education and health services jobs were down by 1,900 over the year.

Of the 15 industry sections and subsections the Labor Department tracks, the education and health group is the second largest in the state, with 76,500 workers. The area with the most employees in Delaware — 83,200 — is the trade, transportation and utility segment.

Government employment numbers haven’t seen much change in the last 12 months. During March in Delaware, federal employees numbered 5,900. State government unemployed 32,300, and all local government jobs added up to 28,200.

According to the monthly study, the education and health sector was the only area that lost jobs from last March to now. The construction sector saw no movement; however, wholesale and retail trade, along with leisure and hospitality, saw a combined 5,700-job increase.

While the state’s unemployment rate fell in March, the three counties’ measures stayed nearly the same. The unemployment rate for New Castle County in March was 4.5%. In Kent County, it was 5.3%, and in Sussex, it was 4.7%.

The city of Wilmington’s unemployment rate dropped a little, to 6.2% from February’s 6.3%. Newark’s unemployment number jumped up in March, from 3.4% to 4.5%.

Dover also saw an increase in its rate in March, from 6.6% to 6.8%.