Sharon's Unemployment Rate Holds Steady at 4.2 Percent

unemployment rate in April was 4.2 percent, unchanged from March, according to numbers released by the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development last week.

The unemployment rate last April 2011 was 5.3 percent.

In Massachusetts, the rate fell from 6.5 percent in March 2012 to 6.3 percent in April 2012.

The unemployment rates for area towns follow:

• Dover's unemployment rate declined from 3.9 percent in March to 3.5 percent in April. Last April's rate was 4.7 percent.
• Easton's rate fell a bit, from 5.4 percent in March to 5.3 percent last month. Last year's rate was 6.1 percent.
• Foxborough saw its unemployment rate decrease by .7 percent, from 5.8 percent to 5.1 percent last month. Last April, the rate was 6.3 percent.
• Mansfield's rate was unchanged, finishing the two months at 5.3 percent. Last year's rate was 6.3 percent.
• Medfield's rate was down from March to April, going from 4.6 percent to 4.3 percent. The rate last April was 5.1 percent.
• Norfolk had its rate go down slightly, from 5.4 percent in March to 5.1 percent last month. Last April's rate was 6.6 percent.
• Norton saw a sizable drop in its rate, going from 6.7 percent to 5.9 percent. Last year's rate was 7 percent.
• Norwood's rate was down .3 percent, from 5.4 percent in March to 5.1 percent in April. The rate last year was 6.2 percent.
• Plainville saw a dive in its unemployment rate, from 8.8 percent in March to 7.6 percent last month. The April 2011 rate was 8.5 percent.
• Stoughton's unemployment rate fell from 6.0 percent in March to 5.5 percent in April. Last April's rate was 6.5 percent.
• Wrentham's unemployment rate fell from 5.8 percent in March to 5.3 percent in April. Last April's unemployment rate was 7 percent.