The dip in unemployment registered by D.C. and Virginia in July, and the very slight increase in Maryland, does not necessarily signal a regional economic turnaround or an end to the recession, one expert economist said.

In D.C., the July jobless rate settled at 10.6 percent, down from 10.9 percent in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday. In Virginia, overall unemployment fell from 7.2 to 6.9 percent. In Maryland, the rate inched up from 7.2 to 7.3 percent. Seventeen states and the District saw their unemployment rates fall between June and July.

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