February unemployment numbers out

February unemployment numbers are out and Delaware’s holding steady at 8.5 percent, unchanged from January 2011.

Broken down by county, New Castle’s unemployment rate remained the same from January at 8.8 percent, but it’s down from 9.0 percent in February of last year.

Kent County is seeing 9.0 percent unemployment, an improvement from the 9.2 percent it tallied in January.

And Sussex County dropped three tenths of a percent to 9.7.

“It’s good that we’re headed in a positive direction, but I don’t think anyone can feel good about an 8.5 percent unemployment rate,” said Delaware Dept. of Labor’s George Sharpley.

Despite New Castle County’s “steadiness,” Wilmington’s number jumped two tenths of a percent from January and eight tenths of a percent from 2010.

“The technical reason why it’s gone up is that apparently a greater proportion of the claims filed are coming from Wilmington residents,” said Sharpley.

The U.S. unemployment rate for February was 8.9 percent, down from 9.0 percent in January.