WASHINGTON — The Labor Department will report the nation’s March unemployment rate and job growth Friday, but ahead of that, its Bureau of Labor Statistics is out with February numbers for metro areas showing unemployment rates fell in 224 cities, rose in 88 and were unchanged in 26.

The Washington metro area’s unemployment rate was unchanged in February at 4.0 percent, though that’s down from 4.1 percent in February 2016.

The Washington region added 14,600 jobs in February.

Among cities with populations of a million or more, Denver and Salt Lake City tied for the lowest February unemployment rates at just 3.2 percent. Cleveland had the highest big-city unemployment rate in February at 7.5 percent.

Among all metropolitan statistical areas, Ames, Iowa, had the lowest unemployment rate in February, at 2.1 percent.  The highest was El Centro, California, at 18.4 percent.