RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Virginia’s unemployment rate decreased to 2.8% from May to June, a 1.2% drop from the same point a year ago.
According to household survey data released by the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC), the number of employed Virginia residents grew by 13,792. This was in spite of the fact that employers in the commonwealth actually removed more jobs than were gained — with an overall decrease of 2,700 jobs in June.
Employment rose in nine major industry sectors but declined in two. There were particularly large losses in the government sector as a total of 15,500 jobs were reportedly lost. For comparison, 5,900 government jobs were gained in July of last year and even as recently as May, there was an increase of 5,400 government jobs. Within the government sector, 3,200 jobs lost were for state government, 4,500 were for the federal government and 7,800 jobs lost were for local government.
From June 2021 to June 2022, the VEC estimates that establishments in Virginia gained 123,400 jobs, an increase of 3.1%. Compared to a year ago, all industry sectors have increased except the government sector which has decreased by 2,300 jobs since June last year.
Virginia’s overall labor force participation rate — the proportion of residents age 16 and older employed or actively looking for work — remained steady at 63.8%, above the national rate of 62.2%.
Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 2.8% continues to be below the national rate, which was unchanged at 3.6%.
