Martinsville had highest jobless rate in February

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The city of Martinsville had the highest jobless rate in Virginia in February.

The Virginia Employment Commission says the city's seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was 11.4 percent. That's the same as January and down from 15.4 percent a year ago.

The statewide rate for February was 5.3 percent.

Nationally, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate for February was 7 percent. Rates dropped from last year in 338 metropolitan areas, increased in 25 and were flat in nine.

Arlington County had Virginia's lowest jobless rate with 3.4 percent in February.

The Danville region had the highest unemployment rate among Virginia's metropolitan regions at 7.2 percent.

The Washington metropolitan region that includes Arlington and Alexandria had the lowest rate of 4.2 percent.