Virginia’s unemployment remains stagnant at 6.2% in September
The unemployment rate in Virginia inched up one-tenth of a percentage point in September to 6.2% as the pandemic continues to affect the labor market, according to data released Wednesday by the Virginia Employment Commission.
While the rate was 2.7% a year ago, Virginia still remains below this year’s U.S. unemployment rate, which fell to 7.9% last month.
Employment had been growing across Virginia year-over-year for 72 consecutive months before it took a steep fall in April with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The only industry to see more jobs in September than it had a year ago was construction, which reported 3,800 more jobs than in 2019, a 1.9% increase.
The Hampton Roads region gained 1,700 jobs since August, as did the Richmond area, but still had 38,800 fewer jobs than in September 2019. Northern Virginia gained the most jobs since
August: 8,100. The region has also lost the most year-over-year at 71,800.
Joe Mengedoth, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, noted that the state’s pace of hiring seemed to slow as well, from 68,000 jobs added in August to 9,200 in September. He likened it to taking an elevator down and the stairs back up.
As for recovering all the jobs lost since the pandemic, “we’re almost halfway there,” he said of Virginia. Between February and April, there were 438,100 jobs cut. Since then, 195,300 have been added, he said.
The commonwealth’s labor force shrunk by nearly 72,000 people to 4.3 million in September.