The state revised Delaware’s overall unemployment rate for 2020 to paint a somewhat rosier picture.
The original estimate of 8.3% was lowered to 7.9%.
“The rate is actually lower than we had suspected for last year, and going forward we just have to wait and see what happens with the economy," said Tom Dougherty, Chief of Delaware’s Office of Occupational Labor Market Information. "There’s a lot of uncertainty to predict what happens moving forward.”
The latest data also shows Delaware’s unemployment rate inched up for a third straight month to 6% in January.
Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate dropped from 6.7% to 6.3%.
Delaware added about 2,200 jobs in January, up from 442,300 in December.
It’s still about 5% fewer jobs than the state had last January.
Nationally, the number of jobs has declined by more than 6% during that same time.
Wilmington and Dover continue to have the two highest unemployment rates among Delaware cities, each with a rate of more than 10 percent.
The latest federal COVID relief bill extends the Pandemic Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program (FPUC) created in last year’s CARES Act. It adds an additional $300 per week for all workers receiving state and federal unemployment benefits.
