Virginia unemployment rate improves to 4.3% in June

Virginia’s unemployment rate dropped again in June, landing at 4.3%, 0.2 points below May’s jobless rate, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday.

In June 2020, the unemployment rate was at 8.8%, 4.5% higher than June 2021. Virginia also continued to trend lower than the nation, which was at 5.9% unemployment last month, and the state had the fourth-lowest seasonally adjusted joblessness rate, according to Northam’s office.

The labor force increased by 4,343 to 4.23 million in June, with the number of unemployed Virginians decreasing by 5,448, according to data from the Virginia Employment Commission. The number of employed Virginians increased by 9,791 to 4.05 million.

The largest year-over-year job gains occurred in the leisure and hospitality sector, which gained 67,200 jobs or 25.5%, and the next largest gain was in trade and transportation, which increased by 40,100 jobs, or 6.5%. Professional and business services saw a gain of 26,300 jobs, or a 3.5% increase. Public sector jobs rose by 10,500 in June, after months of declining public sector employment.

The VEC reported that eight out of Virginia’s 10 metropolitan areas saw nonfarm job gains during June, with the Richmond region gaining 2,800 jobs and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News ranking second with 2,100 more jobs. Lynchburg lost 300 jobs and Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford marked a 100-job decrease during the month.