SHARP DECLINE.... in local area unemployment rate!?!

The local unemployment rate dropped quickly, drastically, sharply in April 2016.  Waaaaay down to 3.2% -- which is the lowest rate on record in the past six years -- by far.

Read some commentary on this news via last week's Daily News Record article, excerpted below.

Unemployment in the Harrisonburg metropolitan area hit an eight year low in April, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But part of the data supporting the jobless rate has local economic development directors scratching their heads.

Rockingham County was credited with a 2.9 percent unemployment rate in April, well below the 3.8 percent rate recorded in March and the previous April. It marked the first time the rate has been below 3 percent since April 2008.

The drop in the city was greater. The jobless rate was 3.6 percent in April, 1.2 percentage points lower than March and 1.1 percentage point below the April 2015 rate. It, too, was Harrisonburg’s lowest rate since April 2008.

Combined, 3.2 percent of people looking for work in the metro area, which includes the city and county, couldn’t find it in April. That was well below March’s unemployment rate of 4.2 percent and the 4.1 percent rate posted in April 2015.

According to the BLS, only 852 city resident and 1,153 county residents who were seeking work were without jobs, with 166 more Harrisonburg residents and 661 Rockingham residents working in April when compared to March.