Waynesboro unemployment rate highest in 18 years

Waynesboro's unemployment rate topped out at 10.3% in February, the highest since 1991 when it was 10.4%. The Waynesboro News Virginian reported:

Unemployment in Waynesboro reached an 18-year high of 10.3 percent in February, while the rest of the region is at or above the state unemployment rate of seven percent. The percentage of jobless in the state is at the highest level since Feb. 1992. The U.S. jobless rate stands at 8.9 percent.

The last time Waynesboro’s unemployment rate was above 10 percent was in March 1991, when it reached 10.4 percent.

Staunton’s jobless rate in February was 7.8 percent, Augusta County 7.4 percent and Nelson County seven percent. More than 5,500 people in the four localities are unemployed.