We provide a new interpretation of how electron correlations are represented within the local-density approximation for exchange by deducing via Harbola-Sahni theory the corresponding pair-correlation density. The expression differs from that in the literature and contains, in addition to the uniform electron-gas result, a term proportional to the gradient of the density. Thus, the nonuniformity of the electron density is explicitly incorporated in the approximation, and constitutes thereby the reason underlying its success.