DC Metro’s Jobless Rate Up Sharply

The District, Maryland and Virginia continued shedding jobs at a rapid pace in February, according to government data released yesterday, with D.C.’s unemployment rate rising to nearly 10 percent. … African Americans “are the first to be laid off and the last to be rehired,” said Anirban Basu, chairman and chief executive of Sage Policy Group, a Baltimore economic and policy consulting firm. Noting that the District also has a high proportion of undereducated and low-skilled residents, Basu added that employers figure that “people with less education attainment and less experience in the workforce are easy to replace.”http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032701268.html?hpid=topnewsBy V. Dion Haynes — Washington Post