Delaware unemployment drops to 6.5 percent

The First State’s stubbornly stagnant unemployment rate is finally making a big move in the right direction.

The latest report from the Delaware Department of Labor shows the state’s unemployment rate for November stands at 6.5 percent.  That’s a drop of three thenths of a percent since October, and nearly a full percentage point over the past four months.

Currently, there are 28,500 unemployed Delawareans, compared to the 31,000 who were unemployed in November 2012.

The local area unemployment rates, which are not seasonally adjusted, showed improvement as well. New Castle County has the state’s lowest unemployment rate at 5.8 percent. That’s down from October’s rate of 6.5 percent.  Wilmington’s unemployment rate is still high, but it’s also improving. Wilmington’s rate for November was 8.8 percent, down more than half a percentage point from October’s rate of 9.6 percent.

Kent County saw a near full percentage rate drop in unemployment from October’s 6.6 percent to November’s 6.1 percent. Sussex County rate actually went up a little from 6.1 in October to 6.2 percent in November.